Laid-Back Philosopher

MindSmith

Hey there. Pull up a thought—no rush.
Ask about Stoicism, science, or a scholar.

YOU

You

What’s the Stoic “dichotomy of control”?

MindSmith

It’s the practice of focusing on what you can govern—your judgments and actions—and relaxing your grip on outcomes and externals.

Source: Enchiridion §1 (Epictetus)

MindSmith

Stoicism

Core Idea. Train attention on what’s up to you (judgment, intention, effort); loosen grip on externals and outcomes. Epictetus • Marcus Aurelius

Dichotomy of Control. Align desire with what you control; let fortune be what it is. Enchiridion §1

Premeditatio Malorum. Visualize obstacles gently to reduce surprise and rehearse virtue. Seneca, Letters

Science

Scientific Method. Ask, hypothesize, test (falsify), analyze, update, share. General practice

Falsifiability. Theories should risk being wrong via observation. Karl Popper

Paradigm Shifts. Normal science → anomalies → crisis → new paradigm. Thomas Kuhn

Bayesian Updating. Prior + likelihood → posterior; update proportionally to evidence. Bayes

Scholars

Hypatia of Alexandria. Mathematician & philosopher; symbol of open inquiry. Late Antiquity

Aristotle’s Four Causes. Material, Formal, Efficient, Final—four lenses for explanation. Physics • Metaphysics

Occam’s Razor. Prefer the simpler theory that explains the data equally well. William of Ockham