Escape the trap of victimhood
The Underground man is a nihilist, self-centred, weak and resentful. “Well I know that I’m a bastard, a villain, an egotist, a lazy idler.”
If you’re new around here, welcome to Wisdom Wednesdays - where I share wisdom from history’s greatest minds.
This week, I received an email from a listener who pointed out that I haven’t featured as many female authors in my episodes.
If you think there are modern or ancient female authors who would be great additions to the podcast, I’d love to hear from you. Reply or leave a comment.
By the way, I forgot to add the Epitetus episode link to last week’s post so here it is:
Now moving on to Dostoevsky’s Notes from Underground. The novella is a critique of utopia, scientism, and rational egoism.
The Underground Man is a nihilist, self-centred, weak and resentful. “Well, I know that I’m a bastard, a villain, an egotist, a lazy idler.”
Our goal is to be the opposite of the Underground Man, to realize that we have free will and cannot be reduced to our functional parts. That your consciousness is not reducible to computational function. Indeed, YOU are alive, experiencing this world, and not a machine. This is especially important to remember in this new age of AI. Don’t let victim mentality set in.
Lessons Fyodor Dostoevsky
The first step to escaping the victim mentally is gratitude. Grateful to experience this world. Man is stupid, phenomenally stupid. That is, even though he’s not really stupid at all, he’s so ungrateful that you can’t find another being like him.
Decide, and then act. I composed a beautiful, charming letter to him, imploring him to apologize to me, and hinting rather plainly at a duel in case of his refusal… I didn’t send the letter to him. Cold shivers run down my back when I think of what might have happened if I had sent it.
Realize that you are the world, and the world is you. I say let the world go to hell, but I should always have my tea.
Humility is the sign of growth. Perhaps I was the only one in the whole office who constantly imagined that I was a coward and a slave, and I imagined that precisely because I was refined.
Let not your pride stand in the way of taking action. It is clear to me now that, owing to my unbounded vanity and to the high standard I set for myself, I often looked at myself with furious discontent, which verged on loathing, and so I inwardly attributed the same feeling to everyone.
Don’t abandon your convictions on a whim or because of external pressures. Whenever he prepares for any undertaking, this gentleman immediately explains to you, pompously and clearly, precisely how he is required to act in accordance with the laws of reason and truth. As if that’s not enough, he’ll talk to you excitedly and passionately about true and normal human interests; with a mocking smile he’ll reproach the short-sighted simpletons who understand neither their own profit nor the true meaning of virtue, and then—precisely a quarter of an hour later, without any sudden, external cause, but simply because of something inside him which is stronger than all his interests—he’ll completely reverse himself: that is, he’ll act in obvious opposition to what he was just saying…
Don’t be afraid to take action. ‘I'll go this minute!’ Of course, I remained.
You can support my mission of reviving beauty and wisdom by checking out the podcast, sharing this essay with a friend, or upgrading to a paid subscription on Substack.
Thank you to all those who are supporting my work!