Marcus Aurelius: The Captain of your own ship

Howdy and welcome back to The Plutarch Project Podcast. this is episode 3 of our short form podcasts, “resonare illustrationis”-or echoes of illumination a brief illuminating look at a piece of literature, history, or philosophy to fill the gaps between our longer form podcasts. Don’t forget to subscribe and share if you find yourself picking up what we are putting down!

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus made his grand appearance into the world on April 26th 124 C.E.. He was born with the name Marcus Annius Verus. His lineage was said to date back to Numa Pompilius the legendary second king of Rome. A bold claim that linked their family with many of the cultural and religious institutions of the time. Marcus Aurilius would come to be known as a Statesman, Philosopher, and perhaps most notably and importantly a character in the 2000 Ridley Scott film “Gladiator.” Actually, he was the last of the [quote]5 good emperors” of Rome. Today’s podcast comes from one of his many meditations.

His meditation reads as follows: “Remember that all is but opinion, and all opinion depends of the mind. Take thine opinion away, and then as a ship that hath stricken in within the arms and mouth of the harbor, a present calm, all things safe and steady: a bay, not capable of any storms and tempests: as the poet hath it” (loc. 6065)

“All is opinion” Now that’s a bold statement Mr. Emperor! Let’s think about this for a brief moment. He couldn’t possibly mean everything… could he? If he were considering the natural world he probably wouldn’t extend it to all of the natural phenomenon of the world. But, in the dealings of humans and the world we have created as a species… why not? Is human existence-the world we reside in-is it NOT a subjective experience? Perhaps you are not convinced… I don’t blame you, but with a bit of meditation of your own you too will come to the same conclusion.

Let’s start with the most objective tools we have… our senses. We can use our sight and say “The sky is Blue today!” But, is what is blue to you blue to other people? Is it the same shade of blue? Are the cones and rods in your eyes firing away painting the same image inside your mind as well as others? Or is there a chance that although it is similar… they aren’t exact copies… does that mean that our realities are the same? Or are they similar? This doesn’t even take into account those who are colorblind… or even blind. This same idea can be extended to all of our sense: tastes, touches, the sweet caress of my voice in your earholes… all are packaged products produced by the mushy computer trapped inside our skulls. 

Marcus Aurelius noted this phenomenon in the quote above and noted the power of this realization. It’s not the world that shapes how we view it… It’s us (as individuals and as a species) who shape our own view of the world. We are all doing it all the time, collectively and individually. But, as we have already noticed there is a gap between individuals.

Science Fiction has found its way around this problem in a myriad of ways. One of the most known is from Star Trek in which Spock, and other Vulcans, can mind meld– or join their mind with anothers– experiencing the world through someone else’s experiences. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately for some of you filthy rascals, we can’t do that. So we will never REALLY know what it is like to be someone else. Chew on that for a second… 

We are indeed like the lonely boat in Aurelius’ metaphor. One ship among a fleet of billions. All similar, but experiencing human life from different vantage points. 

It’s the solitary nature of the mind that when inspected disassembles the world we think we know into the phantasmagoric things they really are… and all that is left is the flickering opinions we conjure about them.

One thing we can be certain about it that the more human the idea… the more opinionated it becomes. The myths we have built as a species… myths like love, hate, envy, greed and even those further in the realm of abstraction such as Freedom are mere opinions of collected thought passed on throughout time… imperfect copies of ideas floating down the generations into the realm of the future. 

So if you find your own mind ship tossing and turning… Remember you are in control of the ship, take a moment, breath, let go of the world of opinions and enter the safe harbor of your own creation. 

Let us know what you think in the comments. Thanks for listening, and as always, onward!

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