The modern world with its widespread use of the internet is often the best and easiest way to spread information. Such information often ends up turning into something like a ‘trend’, such as the recent wave of being a ‘sigma’. The term sigma here is used to refer to a person like the term alpha was, except sigmas are stoic. They don’t express feelings or emotions – they’re unfeeling creatures, like Batman or other stoic heroes.
The meaning of the word stoic is often associated with being ‘unemotional’. People who don’t show much expressions or feelings are referred to as stoic persons, and hearing someone described as stoic would present an image in the mind of a tall, broad-shouldered man with eyebrows covering his eyes and a big moustache, who only speaks in grunts.
The dictionary meaning of Stoic states that it is a term used to refer to ‘a person who can endure pain or hardship without showing their feelings or complaining’. The other meaning uses it to refer to those that follow the philosophy of Stoicism.
This is where it gets mixed up. The ancient philosophy of Stoicism, which was popular during the Hellenistic period (when Alexander the Great’s Empire was split, with endless wars waged between the Diadochi and their successors), due to the current meaning of the word stoic, is now assumed to be some kind of belief system that advised its followers to be like the sigmas of today, but that is far from the truth.
Unlike being stoic, Stoicism provides a philosophy for people to accept their feelings and move on. They’re encouraged to express healthy feelings, and live in harmony with others. Stoicism focuses on social responsibility and being helpful to each other, and they repeatedly have stated that their goal is not to become men with hearts of stone, as stoic men are often expressed as.
The origin of Stoicism lies in the Greek era, around 300 B.C.E., in Athens. It was a prominent school of thought founded by Zeno of Citium, who took inspiration from Socrates, Plato’s Academy, and the Cynics. Stoa Poikile (Painted Colonnade/Painted Porch) is the origin for the term itself, which was the place Zeno lectured at.
Stoicism’s beliefs lie in being rational and avoiding expressing very strong emotions. Basically, they’re against dramatic displays of anger or sadness or even joy. There is a middle line to follow, and rationality to keep to. They believed passion was the cause of all evil, and self-control, fortitude, and justice were preached all the time. They believe the end goal of all people is to have a well-lived, flourishing life – their characterisation of happiness was “the end, for the sake of which everything is done, but which is not itself done for the sake of anything else.” But because most people were often wrong about what would make them happy, Stoicism’s ethics tried to provide an account of what is really good and what would really make a human being happy, so that they could simply follow it to achieve their own happy little lives.
When you look at the history and development of Stoicism, it becomes really obvious how different it is from the presumed meaning of the word Stoic.
The term stoic, too, emerges from the same place as Stoicism, but the meaning of the word and eventually the philosophy itself changed over time.
These two aren’t the only words to have been mixed up over time, though. Several other Ancient Greek terms, like:
- sophist (a manipulative person) and Sophist (a teacher of philosophy)
- skeptic (someone who doubts things) and Skeptic (a philosophical movement of the ancient times)
- epicurean (a fine dining lover) and Epicurean (another school of philosophy)
- academic (a scholar) and Academic (another school of philosophy)
And many others. The differences are usually not clear without context, especially if the writer has failed to differentiate the first letter (small letter and capital letter mean different terms).
The problem with mixing these words up is purely emotional most of the time. The slight difference in the actual meaning and the supposed meaning – such as a person declaring themselves to be stoic, a hard-hearted person who feels nothing, basically saying they’re the same as Plato or Socrates, who were renowned men of unbelievable standards. The people who say they’re stoic are better followers of small letter stoicism, rather than capital letter Stoicism.
The idea of stoicism and the term stoic gained popularity over the last few decades, when stereotypical personalities started becoming popular, ranging from the typical bad boy or mean girl or shy nerd to more niche styles like a stoic person. More and more books have been written about them, the research ever expanding.
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Quotes about Days from Around the World
