Indifference is a power

Stoicism, Emotion, and Dissociation

• Several commenters stress a distinction between mindful Stoicism and emotional numbness.
• Suppressing emotions in the moment can be useful, but many argue you must later “go back” and feel and integrate what was set aside, or you build up “emotional debt.”
• Reframing “I am angry” as “I feel anger arising” is seen as helpful distance, but also as potentially dissociative if used only to escape experience.
• Some describe explicitly revisiting stressful events later, almost like a post‑mortem, to feel what was suppressed and practice staying centered while feeling it.

Pop Stoicism, Masculinity, and Social Media

• A major thread argues that social‑media “Stoicism” (especially in the manosphere) translates to: don’t feel, don’t complain, just endure.
• Critics see this as old “tough it out, bottle it up” norms repackaged, often labeled as “toxic masculinity” or “Broicism.”
• Others push back on gendered labels, arguing bad behavior should be called bad without attaching it to “masculinity.”
• Multiple people note a large gap between classical Stoicism and the short, macho, TikTok/YouTube version; the latter often becomes an excuse for emotional stunting.

Therapy, Neuroscience, and Alternative Frameworks

• Many link Stoicism to modern Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: examine thoughts, test interpretations, choose responses instead of reacting.
• Some prefer mindfulness/meditation or Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, arguing emotions sit “below” rational thought and can’t be managed by logic alone.
• One long comment contrasts Stoic “no emotion” fantasies with psychopathy: real-world emotional absence leads not to hyper‑rationality but to social dysfunction, suggesting emotions are necessary guardrails.

Epictetus, Loss, and Indifference

• Epictetus’s cup/child/wife passage splits readers.
• Some see it as darkly comic or inhuman; others interpret it as reframing and pre‑acceptance of inevitable loss, not a call to stop caring.
• Alternative translations emphasize consistency of worldview: respond to your own misfortune with the same philosophical story you apply to others, while still feeling grief.

Power, Compliance, and Politics

• Critics argue Stoicism can slide into quietism: a tool for the privileged or powerful (or employers) to normalize suffering and discourage resistance.
• Others counter that focusing on what you can control can include political action; Stoicism need not mean ignoring injustice, only regulating one’s emotional swings while acting.

Overall Attitudes

• Many appreciate Stoicism as a tool for reframing hardship and avoiding self‑destructive reactions.
• Equally many warn that, in its popular form, it easily becomes emotional suppression, learned helplessness, or a justification for not addressing fixable problems.