How You Can Change the World

"It’s increasingly hard to deny that we’re facing indisputably massive problems with ever growing threats to planetary health. Scientists, conservationists, ecologists, and environmentalists have been ringing the alarm on global warming, mass extinction, deforestation, and pollution for decades. At this point, the argument is no longer about whether there is anything to be alarmed about, but rather how alarmed we should be. We’re a long way from what the Stoics would have wanted—from their vision of sympatheia or from Seneca's line, Mundus ipse est ingens deorum omnium templum (The world itself is a huge temple of all the gods)."Ryan describes recent insights that lend some hope to the climate fight in today's Daily Stoic Podcast.***If you enjoyed this week’s podcast, we’d love for you to leave a review on Apple Podcasts. It helps with our visibility, and the more people listen to the podcast, the more we can invest into it and make it even better. Sign up for the Daily Stoic email: http://DailyStoic.com/signupFollow @DailyStoic:Twitter: https://twitter.com/dailystoicInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/dailystoic/Facebook: http://facebook.com/dailystoicYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/dailystoicSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. 📢 Share | ⚙️ Manage Subscription

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:06Ryan Holiday?

  Welcome to The Daily Stoic, where each day we read a short passage designed to help you cultivate the strength, insight, wisdom necessary for living the good life. Each one of these passages is based on the 2,000-year-old philosophy that has guided some of history's greatest men and women. For more, you can visit us at dailystoic.com.

• 0:29Ryan Holiday?

  How You Can Change the World It's increasingly hard to deny that we're facing massive problems with ever-growing threats to our planetary health. Scientists, conservationists, ecologists, and environmentalists have been ringing the alarm on global warming, mass extinction, deforestation, and pollution for decades. At this point, the argument is no longer about whether there is anything to be alarmed about, but simply how alarmed we should be. We're a long way from what the Stoics would have wanted from their vision of Sympathia, or from Seneca's line, that "the world itself is a huge temple of all the gods." There is good news, though. Those

• 1:10Ryan Holiday?

  same scientists also agree that we can still fight it. The Stoicism and Sustainability lecturer and researcher Kai Whittington's work centers around applying ancient wisdom to these challenges: how the life well-lived translates into something bigger than our own personal endeavors. After all, how easy is it to enjoy a life worth living if our water is contaminated, our air is polluted, and our last remaining green spaces lie over landfill? But with the enormity and complexity of these issues, it's easy to feel like there's nothing we can individually do to make a difference. In our interview with Kai, we asked if he had any recommendations for things people can do in their daily lives

• 1:52Ryan Holiday?

  that may have more impact than one might think. He said that in his lectures on critical thinking, he asked students, "How can you change the world?" After they debate the answer, he tells them, "How about 'don't buy crap you don't need'?" As he explained, so many of us get fooled by marketing and Tricked into desiring things we don't need and won't make us happy. Once we understand that progressing in the good life is progressing in the four virtues and not in keeping up with the Joneses, we massively reduce our waste. We stop fueling needless production. This change of attitude alone cuts your ecological carbon, water, and material footprint. It also saves your efforts and resources, including time, because you don't have to

• 2:35Ryan Holiday?

  work so hard for things that you won't use, don't really want. It's brilliant. Most of what we say and do is not essential, Marcus Aurelius reminds us. If you can eliminate it, you'll have more time and more tranquility. Ask yourself at every moment, is this necessary? Also brilliant. This, Marcus Aurelius said, was the simple recipe for personal improvement and happiness. It also may be the recipe for change in the world. And you can check out our interview with Kai about climate change and Stoicism and ecological sustainability at dailystoic.com. If you like the podcast that we do here and you want to get it via email every morning, you can sign up at dailystoic.com/email.