Trenton+P’s+OpEd+Article



The Apathy of Stoicism Rarely does something get me riled up these days. I like to think that it runs contradictory to the striations of society today, with the internet craze and iPod Touches that seem to infiltrate every public school imaginable in the U.S., where one would think that the degeneration of grammar, manners, and basic courtesy is so far down the drain that you're baffled to find anyone that's still in hold of their integrity. Where, when schools and their teachers and their associated parents would put the enormous pressure necessary for their child to feel "motivated" to succeed just the way they want them to, it would seem ludicrous to find someone that is not very affected by the weight of those expectations. And, when college applications start to become intolerably difficult and the workforce starts becoming unwieldy concerning your interest, one would flip a table in their own frustration. Not to mention the drama that real life is going to ambush us with in the future, outside of school gates and Scantrons, away from a parent's safety and oblivious to adaptation.

Numerous online and offline personality tests seem to label me as one of the following: Prudent, Calm, or Introverted. Often times it's not easy to get an //extreme// reaction out of me; stubbing toes on my desk leg, provocative jibes, even certain jokes that would make anyone's stomach hurt for hours on end. I don't slam things when my patience runs thin. Fragile things don't break when I'm legitimately angry. My mom often notes that I have more control over my emotions than most, and that had been exemplified when one of our rabbits died recently. While the rest of the family found this to be ultimately saddening, my own mind had already moved on. Nerves of steel, people seem to call them. It's an invaluable trait when put on the spot, because the ability to calmly think things through while in a dire situation is simply something that a percentage of people cannot do. This emotion is also respected and promoted in other parts of the country as well. You are criticized for shouting "You Lie!" at the President in a fit of passion. Parents would love to have a child who behaves and does as he is told when required to do so. Teachers love orderly classes without any discrepancies. Initiative may get things done faster, but prudence does a better job at it. If you can't control impulse, you can't control your future. If you're not aware of your standing, then there's no telling exactly when you lose your footing.

The biggest concern, however, and I've taken notice of this multiple times when things get rough between me and my parents, is that having such a calm attitude is a double-edged sword. It doesn't help that I'm reserved and introverted, either, because it only amplifies the passiveness that results from this combination. I know that it's really, really hard to say no to certain offers, much more my parent's wishes as well. I can understand their intentions, and yet when it conflicts with my schedule I'm still hard-pressed to decline the offer. While it's not difficult to relate to other people, I can hardly imagine doing anything other than listening. In school, of course, this is a valued trait in which the more you listen the more you learn. However, to the extent of not being able to offer input as much as one would like, I'm not exactly the best candidate for a serious discussion or debate, much to anyone's disagreement on this claim. When important people in my life pass away, I'm usually the person who feels the least about the event. As much as my emotions allow me to be resilient to hardship, it also makes me callous to it as well to a certain extent. Callous to the point of unconsciously rejecting bad things; things I don't realize until directly confronted with them. I'm particularly slow to have a strong and definitive opinion, and it shows in my essays when I'm not careful. I have become so cautious of making bad decisions that it has turned into a hatred of making any important choices at all; something that the internet and other forms of entertainment do not force you to do. Stoicism can set myself apart from the flow when things get seriously rough. Sometimes, however, it ends up alienating me in the process. I know it happens, perhaps everyday.

Nevertheless, the implications of any event that occurs in my attention is greatly... diminished in impact, at least in comparison to how others would react in my place. Much like taking strings out of a piano so that it doesn't have as rich -or, on the flipside, perhaps as grating- of a sound as you would probably have when you leave it as it generally is. When I found out that I didn't make the piano honors showcase performance for my music exam this year, I was very disappointed. Even when I disagreed as to exactly why I was disqualified, I could eventually understand that this is merely crying over spilled milk. In fact, my teacher required more time (perhaps a whole day) to cool off before getting their bearings together. When I found that I misunderstood a whole section of my music theory exam (and got the whole section wrong because of it), you can bet that I was mentally kicking myself. However, that was that. Hardly a young man such as myself would ever rage over the unfairness that life gives me for long periods of time. That does mean that I'm underwhelmed at the positive things in life, too. It's like I am stuck in the middle of a reaction scale, unable to really explode over anything, but also incapable of getting excited over anything at all or even break down when other are already bawling their eyes out. This, obviously saves me from the hardest edges of societal backlash. Eventually, however, I could lose understanding, muddle friendships, ruin people's live to an extent. To some, the most evil one can do to another is to ignore them and their plight. Despite my state of mind, this is something I am still well unprepared for.