Neo-Stoic Practices and Controlled Coherence: What are the Ice Baths For?
Grant Kolde, Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, Chicago, IL
With the rise of podcasts, many young men are listening to podcasters like Joe Rogan, Jordan Peterson, Jocko Willink, and Chris Williamson that preach a message counter to the perceived decadence, sensitivity, and helplessness of the culture writ large. These men, with massive online platforms, are calling for people to put aside laziness and weakness and embrace discipline and discomfort in order to regain control over their minds, their bodies, and their circumstances. Many practices are put forth as helpful in this quest for mastery: ice baths, saunas, workouts (the earlier in the morning the better), meditation, selective exposure to light, and reading.
The resurgence of these stoic disciplines is starkly contrasted with these podcasters’ projection of the greater cultural sentiment that everything should be convenient and easy, and that anything that is not convenient and easy is unfair or unjust. While many of these practices are objectively good for the stewardship of one’s health, there is a sense that these disciplines are a way to bring about a controlled coherence between mind and body such that one’s health is optimized for longevity and one is more effective at accomplishing one’s goals. The suffering endured in these practices is not a part of a sacrifice for others, but for the subjection of the mind and body to one’s own will. Consequently, the purpose for these “neo-stoic” disciplines contains an underlying notion of conquest and immortality.
Many of these “neo-stoic” disciplines are not specifically stoic, as they are quite ancient and have been practiced by a wide array of cultures as a kind of Medicine. The sweat lodges of Native American cultures, the frozen lake plunges of Northern and Eastern Europeans, the isolated meditation of hermits of many cultures, and the physically-taxing dances performed at various rituals are all examples of uncomfortable practices that were believed to have healing or purifying properties. While Christian tradition contains examples of practices with an element of intended discomfort, Christians did these things not to conquer, but to remember. In this paper, I will briefly examine Christianity’s relationship to these kinds of “stoic” practices and evaluate their contemporary pop-culture relevance in light of a Christian understanding of the coherence between mind and body due to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Drawing from theologians such as Wendell Berry, Claude Larchet, as well as the Gerasene Demoniac found in Mark 5, this paper will argue that health for the sake of conquest or immortality is at odds with the Christian understanding that true coherence of health and strength comes from the resurrection of Christ. Further, I will assert that while the practices themselves are neutral, a motivation to use them to gain mastery over the mind and body to more effectively exert one’s own will is contrary to the Gospel of Jesus.
The resurgence of these stoic disciplines is starkly contrasted with these podcasters’ projection of the greater cultural sentiment that everything should be convenient and easy, and that anything that is not convenient and easy is unfair or unjust. While many of these practices are objectively good for the stewardship of one’s health, there is a sense that these disciplines are a way to bring about a controlled coherence between mind and body such that one’s health is optimized for longevity and one is more effective at accomplishing one’s goals. The suffering endured in these practices is not a part of a sacrifice for others, but for the subjection of the mind and body to one’s own will. Consequently, the purpose for these “neo-stoic” disciplines contains an underlying notion of conquest and immortality.
Many of these “neo-stoic” disciplines are not specifically stoic, as they are quite ancient and have been practiced by a wide array of cultures as a kind of Medicine. The sweat lodges of Native American cultures, the frozen lake plunges of Northern and Eastern Europeans, the isolated meditation of hermits of many cultures, and the physically-taxing dances performed at various rituals are all examples of uncomfortable practices that were believed to have healing or purifying properties. While Christian tradition contains examples of practices with an element of intended discomfort, Christians did these things not to conquer, but to remember. In this paper, I will briefly examine Christianity’s relationship to these kinds of “stoic” practices and evaluate their contemporary pop-culture relevance in light of a Christian understanding of the coherence between mind and body due to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Drawing from theologians such as Wendell Berry, Claude Larchet, as well as the Gerasene Demoniac found in Mark 5, this paper will argue that health for the sake of conquest or immortality is at odds with the Christian understanding that true coherence of health and strength comes from the resurrection of Christ. Further, I will assert that while the practices themselves are neutral, a motivation to use them to gain mastery over the mind and body to more effectively exert one’s own will is contrary to the Gospel of Jesus.