Stoic Superhero #1: James Stockdale & Realistic Optimism

In a new series, I will be giving short lessons on my favorite "Stoic superheroes," both ancient and modern. We will begin by talking about James Stockdale and the Stockdale Paradox. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review and share it with a friend who might benefit from listening.

Transcript

The world loves superheroes,

And so do I.

If you take a look at the top 20 highest grossing movies of all time,

You will see that in nearly every one of them,

There is a story of an ordinary person,

Who embarks on an extraordinary journey.

And on this journey,

The hero leaves their ordinary world and sets forth on a path filled with enemies,

Mentors,

Trials and setbacks,

As they eventually transform into the hero locked within their potential.

Heroes,

Of course,

Exist everywhere.

We see heroes in our schools,

In our police departments,

In our fire services,

In our communities,

And in ourselves.

But superheroes,

Superheroes are a rarer breed.

A superhero,

You could say,

Is a hero among heroes.

A hero who has gone the extra step and is able to perform feats of character or determination way beyond any typical exemplary human.

History is scattered with superheroes.

The most well-known ones that come to mind for me are the religious or cultural icons such as Jesus,

Christ,

Buddha,

Socrates.

More recent superheroes of industry and thought might include Elon Musk,

Leonardo da Vinci,

Isaac Newton,

And so on.

But there is a team,

A small team,

Of historical superheroes with whom I am particularly impressed.

I see these individuals as the philosophical version of the Avengers.

And what is especially fascinating about these superheroes is that they were self-made.

They followed a system for courageous living that is still accessible to us today.

In other words,

You could make the argument that they were genetic freaks or extreme anomalies.

You could actually make the case that they were ordinary human beings who followed a process,

And that process in and of itself transformed them into a superhero.

The individuals I'm referring to are the Stoics.

So Stoic philosophy,

As you might know by now,

Is not to be confused with the dictionary definition of small-s Stoic.

Stoicism is an ancient blueprint for living a joyful,

Wise,

Virtuous life free of unnecessary suffering.

I like to think of Stoicism as a type of Buddhism filtered for Western tastes.

This is a perspective I got from Derren Brown in his book Happy.

The Stoics practiced their philosophy properly.

They practiced it.

They didn't just think about it.

And it seemed to encounter the states of awakening that are similar to those described by experienced Buddhist meditators.

There's a complete overlap here.

The Stoics didn't talk about non-duality or no-self,

But they did seem to experience insights such as the interconnectedness of all things,

Impermanence,

And had an unwavering,

Tranquil mind.

The Stoics believed that in order to live a good life,

One must live in accordance with nature.

There are two specific human branches of nature,

You could say.

There's the social side of us.

Human beings are social.

And human beings are rational.

Or they have the capacity to be rational,

At least.

So the Stoics tended to be successful,

Often,

And active players in society.

And we see that many emperors,

Soldiers,

Playwrights,

Psychiatrists,

Politicians,

And teachers have been practicing Stoics over the years.

There are many tales of ancient and modern Stoics displaying superhuman courage.

But now I would like to list my top five favorites.

These individuals,

For me,

Are very inspiring and made an impact on my own personal journey through Stoicism.

So first we have James Stockdale.

Picture this.

We go back in time to 1965,

September 9th.

While flying on a mission over North Vietnam,

The commander James Stockdale was shot down,

Beaten,

And I mean beaten badly,

And taken as a prisoner of war to Hoa Lo Prison,

Also known as the Hanoi Hilton.

Stockdale remained here for the next seven and a half years and was subjected to horrendous physical,

Mental,

And social torture,

Including the repeated breaking of his leg.

When it healed,

They'd break it again.

One of the primary aims of Stoicism is to reduce unnecessary suffering and achieve emotional tranquility.

Stoicism is often touted as a form of psychological resistance training,

A tool for remaining calm and composed in the most challenging situations.

It sounds great,

But the question is,

Does it work?

Can philosophy alone truly help us cope when things get truly difficult,

Things get extremely rough,

Things get nightmarish,

And are sustained for many years?

We could look at the ancient Stoics and see how they lived to answer this question.

There's great value in reading and learning about the ancients,

And we're going to do more of this shortly.

But for us modern readers,

We could argue that things were different then,

Because they were,

They were different.

So a true test for us modern readers of Stoicism would be to see how Stoicism stands up when a modern practitioner of this philosophy is thrust into a truly abhorrent situation,

Let's just say one where they have to endure torture and solitary confinement over a period of years,

And see how their Stoic techniques work then.

Then report back to us and tell us how it went.

No sane person would ever volunteer themselves for such an experiment,

And nobody would actually want to see that experiment played out.

But sometimes the twists and turns of fortune present their own experiments that we can learn from.

And this is why James Stockdale's story is so profound.

He was a student of Stoic philosophy when he was captured in Vietnam.

Stockdale said,

Quote,

Even as Stockdale was parachuting down after his plane was shot,

He whispered to himself,

Quote,

Of course Stockdale's real Stoic resilience training began when he was captured,

Quote,

He taught me that my moral purpose is who I am.

He taught me that I am totally responsible for everything I do and say,

And that it is I who decides on and controls my own destruction and own deliverance.

Not even God will intercede if he sees me throwing my life away.

He wants me to be autonomous.

Put me in charge of me.

It matters not how straight the gate,

How charged with punishment the scroll.

I am the master of my fate.

I am the captain of my soul.

End quote.

Stockdale got through his time in the Hanoi Hilton by embracing two paradoxical viewpoints,

Faith and realism.

Stockdale never lost faith that things would work out well,

But he was always willing to look at the most brutal facts of his situation rationally.

This type of realistic optimism has come to be known as the Stockdale paradox.

And for me,

There are two really big insights that we can gain from Stockdale's experiences.

The first one is that we should take our philosophy in with us to all experiences in life.

We should integrate it.

It's not enough to just read philosophy when you're having a coffee,

Sitting on a table,

And then forget it when life gets difficult.

Bring it with you into the difficult situations.

That is where the learning happens.

And the second point links to the Stockdale paradox.

As much as possible,

We want to really look at the things that cause us trouble.

Really look at the things that make us afraid.

Examine the evidence.

Examine our unconscious judgments about reality.

But at the same time,

Never lose faith.

Hope and faith don't need reasons.

There could be a 1% chance of success,

And you could still muster up hope.

You could still have faith,

Even though you would be aware of the probabilities.

And this,

To me,

Is a beautiful fusion of the scientific mind and an optimistic mind.

A realistically optimistic viewpoint that actually helps us.

If you see martial artists and fighters,

You might have been put off by the confidence that they exhibit.

When they go into the ring,

They act as if nobody can beat them.

They are invincible.

Now and again,

You see these very confident individuals getting beat,

Getting knocked out.

And it seems a bit embarrassing.

How could this extremely confident individual get beaten so badly?

And one of the reasons fighters are so confident is because if they don't believe they can win in a really difficult situation,

The likelihood that they will win,

The likelihood that they will keep fighting when they get hurt,

They will keep fighting when they get exhausted,

They will look for opportunities to escape when they are slim.

If they don't believe they can win,

They will give up.

And so the best fighters of them all are very aware of the danger that they're in,

Are very aware of their weaknesses and strengths,

Are very aware of their opponents' shortcomings and virtues,

But also have a deep hope that they can pull through,

That they can win,

And they don't give up.

The hope that helps them win,

The reason that helps them navigate challenge,

And if they do lose,

It is not a soul-crushing surprise either.

Reviews

I believe I heard James Stockdale speak back when I worked for the American Red Cross and he (or someone with an extraordinarily similar set of experiences) addressed our national convention. I was truly inspired by the stalwart bravery he described and his determination to not be swayed from hope! Definitely deserving of the designation of Superhero!
Thanks for the talk, Jon. I’ll look forward to the rest of the series!
Donna

Explains James's Stockdales teaching very well and gives a practical guide to bringing stoicism in to daily life.

Inspiring instuctual insights thank You 🙏🏼

Excellent talk.."a realistic optimist"..this is my take away from the talk..thank you Jon 🌅

Loved it. thank you