What Do Your Vices Cause?

[DISCLAIMER]

A vice is defined as moral depravity or corruption. Here, a moral is defined as of or relating to principles of right and wrong in behavior, and corruption is defined as a departure from the original or from what is pure or correct.

Arguably, the opposite of a vice is virtue which is defined as conformity to a standard of right. As an example, greed (a selfish and excessive desire for more of something, such as money, than is needed) is considered a vice.

Alternatively, temperance (moderation in action, thought, or feeling) is a virtue. When further contemplating these definitional distinctions, I think of the psychotherapeutic modality that I practice and a book which I’ve been steadily reading.

As Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) is informed by Stoic philosophy, this blog entry is part of an ongoing series regarding a book entitled The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman.

Although I don’t concur with some of the verbiage used by ancient Stoics (e.g., reference to a soul—the spiritual principle embodied in human beings, all rational and spiritual beings, or the universe), I can appreciate their message nonetheless. As an example, Seneca stated (page 99):

The diseases of the rational soul are long-standing and hardened vices, such as greed and ambition—they have put the soul in a straitjacket and have begun to be permanent evils inside it. To put it briefly, this sickness is an unrelenting distortion of judgment, so things that are only mildly desirable are vigorously sought after.

I don’t require belief in an unfalsifiable concept, such as a soul, to comprehend what Seneca expressed. Neither do you. Providing clarification on the ancient Stoic philosopher’s statement, through the lens of modernity, authors of The Daily Stoic state (page 99):

In the financial disaster of the late 2000s, hundreds of smart, rational people lost trillions of dollars’ worth of wealth. How could such smart people have been so foolish? These people knew the system, knew how the markets were supposed to work, and had managed billions, if not trillions, of dollars. And yet, almost to a person, they were wrong—and wrong to the tune of global market havoc.

It’s not hard to look at that situation and understand that greed was some part of the problem. Greed was what led people to create complex markets that no one understood in the hope of making a quick buck. Greed caused other people to make trades on strange pools of debt. Greed prevented anyone from calling out this situation for what it was—a house of cards just waiting for the slightest breeze to knock it all down.

The authors boldly fly past correlation and into causation territory in regard to greed. Here, an important distinction is necessary.

Correlation is defined as a relation existing between phenomena or things, or between mathematical or statistical variables which tend to vary, be associated, or occur together in a way not expected on the basis of chance alone.

Correspondingly, causation is defined as the act or process of causing—a reason for an action or condition. Whereas greed was correlated with (related to) the 2008 financial crisis, I remain skeptical as to whether or not greed served as a causative (reasoned) factor.

Nevertheless, I imagine that the vice of greed played some role in the unfortunate financial affair addressed by the authors. To better understand other correlated factors regarding that particular crisis, I’ve watched The Big Short (2015) a number of times.

Photo credit, property of Paramount Pictures, fair use

In the film, greed played a central role. However, so did ignorance which is defined as a lack of knowledge, education, or awareness. Likewise, so did hubris which is defined as exaggerated pride or self-confidence. In any event, authors of The Daily Stoic conclude (page 99):

It doesn’t do you much good to criticize those folks after the fact. It’s better to look at how greed and vices might be having a similar effect in your own life. What lapses in judgment might your vices be causing you? What “sicknesses” might you have? And how can your rational mind step in and regulate them?

What do your vices cause? For instance, is greed serving your interests and goals? For the bankers, airline industries, and other corporations which then-United States President Barack Obama bailed out after the financial crisis, I suspect that answer is a resounding “absolutely!”

For the rest of us – those people who lost their life savings, home, and other assets while not benefitting from Obama’s bailout solution – I imagine that vices caused significant problems. Therefore, we can learn from challenging events such as that addressed in The Big Short.

Thus, I invite you to consider which vices and virtues better serve your interests (desires) and goals (the end results to which effort is applied). What do your vices cause? Once you understand the reason for your problems, then you can do something to correct the matter.

If you’re looking for a provider who tries to work to help understand how thinking impacts physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral elements of your life—helping you to sharpen your critical thinking skills, I invite you to reach out today by using the contact widget on my website.

As a psychotherapist, I’m pleased to try to help people with an assortment of issues ranging from anger (hostility, rage, and aggression) to relational issues, adjustment matters, trauma experience, justice involvement, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety and depression, and other mood or personality-related matters.

At Hollings Therapy, LLC, serving all of Texas, I aim to treat clients with dignity and respect while offering a multi-lensed approach to the practice of psychotherapy and life coaching. My mission includes: Prioritizing the cognitive and emotive needs of clients, an overall reduction in client suffering, and supporting sustainable growth for the clients I serve. Rather than simply trying to help you to feel better, I want to try to help you get better!

Deric Hollings, LPC, LCSW

References:

Daily Stoic. (n.d.). Translating the Stoics: An interview with “The Daily Stoic” co-author Stephen Hanselman. Retrieved from https://dailystoic.com/stephen-hanselman-interview/

Holiday, R. and Hanselman, S. (2016). The daily stoic: 366 meditations on wisdom, perseverance, and the art of living. Penguin Random House LLC. Retrieved from https://www.pdfdrive.com/the-daily-stoic-366-meditations-on-wisdom-perseverance-and-the-art-of-living-d61378067.html

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