Is it Evil or Incompetence?

People do a lot of things that feel mean. That frustrate us. That cause problems for us. That make the world a worse place. They vote for bad politicians. They say offensive things. They make messes. They screw stuff up.✉️ Want Stoic wisdom delivered to your inbox daily? Sign up for the FREE Daily Stoic email at https://dailystoic.com/dailyemail🏛 Get Stoic inspired books, medallions, and prints to remember these lessons at the Daily Stoic Store: https://store.dailystoic.com/📱 Follow us: Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, and Facebook See 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.

• 0:03Ryan Holiday?

  Welcome to the Daily Stoic Podcast, where each day we bring you a passage of ancient wisdom designed to help you find strength, insight, and wisdom in everyday 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, dailystoic.com.

• 0:27Ryan Holiday?

  People do a lot of things that feel mean, that frustrate us, that cause problems for us, that make the world a worse place. They vote for bad politicians, they say offensive things, they make messes, they mess stuff up. Naturally, our first instinct is to get upset about this. We want to confront them about it, to hold them fully accountable for the consequences of their behavior. But it's worth stepping back and asking yourself first, are they really fully accountable? Dating back at least a couple hundred years, we have the so-called Hanlon's razor that states we should never attribute to malice what can easily be attributed to stupidity, meaning that most of the bad things people do are not done out of evil, but simple incompetence. Not everyone is as well-educated as you.

• 1:12Ryan Holiday?

  Not everyone was raised to be responsible like you were. Not everyone is as talented as you. And it is this that explains most errors, most bad driving, and most of the litter you see on the street. Remember, this is what Marcus Aurelius was trying to say in the famous opening passage of Meditations. Yes, we will bump into obnoxious, self-centered, and rude people today, but it's not because they're bad or worth less than we are. It's because they don't yet know any better, because they have been left behind or deprived. And if we can remember this, we won't be so angered by it, and it won't ruin our day. It's going to take all our patience and preparation to hold on to this, but it will be worth it.

• 2:03Ryan Holiday?

  Well, I did it. I am officially at the halfway point or past on the Four Virtues series that I've been writing. Discipline is Destiny: The Power of Self-Control is now out in the world. Meanwhile, I'm hard at work on the next one. I'm trying not to focus on the results, trying not to focus on how far I've come. As the Stoics talk about, as I talk about in the book, I'm trying to keep my nose down and do the work, to be disciplined, to not be distracted. Although, there's nothing as distracting and consuming as a book launch. I appreciate everyone so much who supported the book. It's been the biggest launch I've ever had. All of your support means so much to me. I signed over 10,000 copies of the book. I'm still signing more because we're honoring the preorder bonuses.

• 2:46Ryan Holiday?

  If you missed it, you can grab a copy of Discipline is Destiny: The Power of Self-Control anywhere books are sold. Or if you want to grab a signed copy or want to redeem your bonuses, you can do that at dailystoic.com/preorder. And if you're a podcast person, which clearly you are, you're listening to this, the audiobook is out, which I also recorded. You can grab it on Audible, iBooks, anywhere you get your audiobooks. The ebook is out, too. I can't wait to hear what all of you think. And thanks to everyone for supporting Discipline is Destiny: The Power of Self-Control, which is out now everywhere.