Ataraxia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ataraxia

by keepamovin • 2 years ago

73 18 2 years ago

en.wikipedia.org

f5ve• 2 years ago

Josh Hartnett's suave insouciance in Lucky Number Slevin (2006) is accounted for by him "having ataraxia." [1] That is, as if it were a medical condition. I'm sure it was intended as a joke, but apparently wiktionary says "ataraxy" is sometimes used in a similar way, although I've never seen that. [2]

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjDTmTAy5rs

[2] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ataraxy#English

keepamovin• 2 years ago

I'm gonna check that out, now! Thank you for the recommend :)

As an actor, I wonder if he was merely simulating ataraxy or if he genuinely had it? Perhaps, as an actor, there's no difference!

BTW that clip was hilarious thank you! Hahaha :)

082349872349872• 2 years ago

Ataraxia? Upekṣā? 与道合一? 不動心? Don't harsh my mellow, man; they're all the same to me...

n4r92• 2 years ago

Reminds me of the film Office Space, where Peter is hypnotised to (temporarily) have no cares in the world, but the hypnostist dies before snapping his fingers [0]. There's also a very similar trope in the first episode of the show Black Books, where Manny swallows the "Little Book of Calm", absorbs it into his body, and becomes a Jesus-like calm presence for a while.

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfZpEe7KIJ8

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_dMEX_Lke0

tessierashpool93• 2 years ago

but was jesus jesus-like calm?

    "And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money changers, and the seats of them that sold doves, And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves."

    — Matthew 21:12–13, King James Version[10]

stakhanov• 2 years ago

"having ataraxia." [1] That is, as if it were a medical condition.

There is kind of a noticeable overlap between the stoic ideal and a schizoid personality style. For people who are already left-brain-dominant / spectrumy, or whatever you might call it, which applies to a lot of people in the computing profession, getting into stoicism as a philosophy and lifestyle is probably maladaptive.

throwaway71271• 2 years ago

I have a friend that has it.

On his first day of work he missed the bus, so he called our boss and just said "I missed the bus, the next one is tomorrow morning, see you tomorrow".

Working on any kind of problem with him is absolute joy, from outages to designing new features, including once when the server burned down and everything was lost.

thunderbong• 2 years ago

Would love to hear some more anecdotes

Raztuf• 2 years ago

Funny to learn this word today. Stuff have been pretty rough for me these past few month and I have been unknowingly practicing ataraxia. Problems (at least mine) are temporary, instead of lamenting I should stay cool and enjoy what I have, preparing for the better days. It's truly liberating.

giamma• 2 years ago

In Epicureanism ataraxia is paired with ἀπονία (aponia).

Aponia is for the body what ataraxia is for the mind. You can find more details in the Wikipedia page about Epicureanism [1]. True pleasure comes from the absence of spiritual trouble and the absence of physical pain. The Latins used to say "mens sana in corpore sano" (healthy mind in a healthy body)

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epicureanism

Cthulhu_• 2 years ago

Next question / consideration in your situation of course is whether it's ataraxia, indifference, stoicism, emotional numbing, or disassociation. I think they're probably all related concepts.

orobus• 2 years ago

One of my professors liked to translate it as “un-stirred-up-ness” which I always loved.

snitzr• 2 years ago

Chill vibes.

imdsm• 2 years ago

What's the opposite? Because that's the one I have.

tessierashpool93• 2 years ago

taraxia is then what you have.

histories• 2 years ago

A different Ataraxia: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nHKqvc54TVjIEe...

Ataraxia

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