Proper Judgment

The above quote sums up the Stoic concept of judgment perfectly. Generally, we view the world in terms of cause and effect, something happens, and we react to it. For instance, your boss criticizes you at work; your reaction to the criticism might be anger (how dare he say that to me), frustration (he has no idea what I’m going through right now), blame (it’s my coworkers’ fault that this wasn’t done), etc. And the feelings come automatically and naturally, right?

The Stoics argue otherwise. They claim that there are three stages to our feelings instead of two: first, an event, then our judgment about that event, and then our reaction to our judgment. It’s our judgment about the event—whether it is a good thing or a bad thing—that causes us to feel a certain way. This is exciting for a couple of reasons. First, if we are reacting to opinions rather than events, then we are not at the mercy of the things that happen to us, but can respond in a better way. Secondly, if we can identify what our opinions are through practice, then we can treat those thoughts and opinions as matters of choice.

Treating your reactions as opinions is difficult. After all, if you have a fear of swimming, it’s difficult to jump into a pool of water, even if you know it’s only four feet deep. In this case, you have two conflicting judgments: your knowledge that the pool is safe, and your gut fear of drowning. We can also offer the disclaimer here that Stoicism isn’t a perfect fit solution for all mental health issues. Nevertheless, for most of our everyday judgments, the Stoics would argue that we are better served by considering our opinions and accepting they are there. Not only that, but by practicing observing all our thoughts and judgments as a matter of choice, we can begin to shape the influence these opinions have on us.    

Practice: Seeing Your Opinions

Time: 10 minutes

 Foundation: “Don’t tell yourself anything more than what you first hear. If you’ve been told, ‘So-and-so has been talking behind your back’, then this is what you’ve been told. You haven’t been told, ‘somebody has done you wrong.’ Stick with first impressions, don’t extrapolate, and nothing can happen to you.”

· Description: For this exercise, you’ll need a piece of paper (preferably in a journal or notebook of some kind), a pen, and a timer. Begin by dividing the paper into four columns. In column one write “What happened”, in column two write “What I believe”, in column three write “My reaction”, and in column four write “Different perspective”

· For this exercise, try and think of three events that happened to you during the day. These will go into the what column. Then attempt to recall what you felt about that event at the moment, including thoughts that you had (write this in column two) and what you did or felt like doing right after. The fourth column is for you to ask questions of yourself like “is this belief justified? Was my response correct? How would the other person see this event at the moment? How did my friend or would my friend respond in the same situation? How would the person I most respect respond?” Write for ten minutes and see how far you get!