Life, Death, and Grief from a Stoic Perspective.

Humanity itself is obsessed with living forever. There are products marketed to the masses that claim to extend life spans and extend youthfulness. “Life is short. That’s the point.” but just because we are alive doesn’t mean we are living. Allison Areiff, the author of “Life is short. That’s the point.”, believes that death isn’t something we were meant to stop. In fact, we shouldn’t attempt to stop it because death is a focal point of our human integrity. The very thing about us that make us human.  

If you think about it, everything around us dies at some point or another. Our cellphones, laptops, cars, beloved pets, fellow humans, even our buildings and roads, break down becoming unusable and essentially dead. Some gadgets we produced to die after a few short years in order to force us to buy a new one.  

It has become a major industry to avoid death for as long as possible. There are individuals so fearful of death that they are willing to pay almost $10,000 dollars in order to receive a single liter of a younger person’s plasma. Some are willing to invest in cryogenics, the processes of freezing an individual in order to reanimate their consciousness when the technology becomes available.   

Around this paragraph of the article I thought of Seneca and stoic beliefs. “Life is short. That’s the point.” discusses how or experiences leading up to our deaths are the important things. The idea that we simply live our lives and when we die that is all there is to it. To me that philosophy appeals strongly to the idea of stoicism.  

One of the main points that is often discussed in stoicism is grief over those who have died. Many believe that stoics believe in feeling as little emotion as possible, however that is the extreme version of stoicism. Just like with everything else the extremes gain more attention and are then set as the standard. The true belief of stoics is that is best to avoid extreme emotion. Some emotion is alright and is what makes us human (think Spock), but the issues arise when we allow our emotions to consume us.  

This idea in particular is what Ms. Areiff seems to focus on. In this piece she makes it a point to mention that as humans we are consumed by this fear of death and it keeps us from living and enjoying our lives. We spend so much time trying to outrun the hour glass that we pay no attention to the fact that the sand will run out no matter what. When that hourglass runs out there is no way to flip it over and keep going. Seneca himself said, 

 “So you must not think a man has lived long because he has white hair and wrinkles: he has not lived long, just existed long. For suppose you should think that a man had had a long voyage who had been caught in a raging storm as he left harbour, and carried hither and thither and driven round and round in a circle by the rage opposing winds. He did not have a long voyage, just a long tossing about.” 

Ms. Areiff in fact has a very stoic belief that I feel can be boiled down to this. Life is short, so just enjoy it. Appreciate what you have, don’t fear what you don’t, allow emotions to control the time you have.
Quiz Questions
1.) What was the title of the original opinion article published?
2.) What is humanity allowing to consume it?
3.) Name one method of avoiding death.
4.) What is one belief of stoicism?
Bonus: Which country song was the hour glass analogy referencing?
Discussion Questions
1.) Do you think the methods of avoiding death that are listed are ethical? Why or why not?
2.) Do you think it would be better to live forever or die at the end of a fulfilling life?
3.) Can some one call themselves stoic and still be empathetic towards others?
4.) Does social media make stoicism more difficult or easier to execute? 
5.) what are some other cultures who emphasize stoicism? (historical, fictional, or current)  

To learn more about Seneca click here.

 https://dailystoic.com/seneca-overcoming-grief-facing-death-true-nature-life/
On another note... SPOILER ALERT FOR HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2



Check out this short clip from Stoick's funeral. Note how the grief of losing Stoick is "left at the tomb" and the others reflect fondly but do not allow it to prevent them from continuing to live.