The Ledger
Every statement that passed quotation and attribution checks. Mix any filter with any other: certainty 1/5, debate potential 5/5, or both at once.
why aren't all 13 resolved? a statement only gets an assessment when the public record can support or contradict it. opinions and what-ifs never can, and 0 checkable ones are still open, waiting for their date. predictions held up or didn't; assertions are supported or contradicted. on every card: ▮▮▮▮▮ certainty · ▮▮▮▮▮ debate potential. speakers are clickable
Sherman: Stoics developed the ancient world's most sophisticated emotion theory
“If you really read more deeply, the Stoics with a big S have the most sophisticated emotion theory there is in the ancient world.”
Sherman: Automatic deference based on demographic identity is misguided
“It's not just clear because I'm now a woman speaking that you should defer to me on all matters that have to do with my gender. Nor if I were black, you know, you should defer to me on all matters, because I'm the person of color in the room.”
Sherman: Reason and emotion are not separate faculties
“That the Greeks or Romans gave us, or maybe came with the enlightenment that there's the faculty of reason, and there's the faculty of emotion, and the twain shall never meet. That is so wrong. We know emotions are cognitively loaded. We know that cognition is…”
Sherman: Passive Stoic acquiescence is pernicious rather than virtuous
“I am not the kind of stoic that says accept and acquiesce by any means. I think that's pernicious. I'm very much about exerting my agency and will to change the world as much as I can, but when it comes to those that are near and dear to me and have their own …”
Sherman: Emotions gain power through articulated language and discursive thought
“Emotions get their power. By having words attached to them, by being discursive, by being thought that is articulated.”
Sherman: Stoic philosophy centers on interconnectedness and cosmopolitanism, not isolated grit
“In fact, a very prominent theme in stoicism is that we are coordinated, we're connected, and we live in a cosmos that's makes us cosmopolitan citizens of the universe, a global world.”
Sherman: Classical Stoics view emotions as cognitive beliefs, not mere impulses
“They're essentially belief theorists about emotion, so they're cognitivists, which means it's not only an impulse that you give rise to, but it's a kind of belief.”
Sherman: Stoic emotional regulation requires filtering reactions through reason
“You're reacting a bit, but your reaction is filtered through your reason. And it's slowed down a little bit. You've had a chance to sort of press the pause button a bit.”
Sherman: Emotions derive their power from being articulated in words
“Emotions get their power. By having words attached to them, by being discursive, by being thought that is articulated.”
Sherman: Overcoming impulse relies on cognitive representation, not desire strength
“We often think about strength of desire, and I think that's wrong. You know, my desire for that next drink is much stronger than my desire for refraining. But it's not simply the strength. It has to do with the whole picture. What else hangs in that picture th…”
Sherman: Siloed expertise and media increase vulnerability to bias
“Communication skills are requisite if you're going to get outside the silo, and any knowledge is collective, cooperative not simply built in your area of expertise, and the more narrow the areas of expertise, and the more siloed the mediums for distributing th…”
Sherman: Finding self-compassion requires adopting an external loved one's perspective
“The stoic lesson here is that he's got to take on the perspective of someone else to become his own friend, to find self-compassion.”
Sherman: Stoic resilience uses conditional clauses to avoid rigid attachment
“The Stoics sort of have this idea that you put this little if clause, we're going to do it unless, or if it doesn't, and you're going to be really responsive to what the conditions are in that clause, such that if things change, you're going to change your int…”