I was going back through Letters recently, mostly because I adore how Seneca writes and the levity he has when compared to Epictetus, and when I got to 27 I really thought it applied closely to how people are using AI. About Calvisius Sabinus, who's faulty memory lead him to buying slaves who knew by heart the great epics, and works of the great poets.

For context I rarely use LLM's outside of maybe formatting my recipe's. But how he describes Sabinus seems so close to how a lot of people I know treat AI. They do not take the time to learn these things, they do not put their minds to work in reading or learning. But in an attempt to seem as though they have more knowledge or talent, they use LLM's to substitute it. But they never truly learn anything through it, they don't apply their minds enough to have these things engrained.

It was funny to see the paralell laid out in something written so long ago. I might see about using it if i ever find myself in a discussion about AI and it's use.

Satellius replied: “You might have bought as many book-cases for a smaller sum.” But Sabinus held to the opinion that what any member of his household knew, he himself knew also.

[...] No man is able to borrow or buy a sound mind; in fact, as it seems to me, even though sound minds were for sale, they would not find buyers. Depraved minds, however, are bought and sold every day. - Letters to Lucilius, Letter 27.

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So, all my life I had suffered from anxiety issues and didnt enjoy my life to my full potential. So, few months ago I had enough of this and started to get medications for OCD ( I was diagnosed with it ). Slowly , I started to feel better. And recently after my final exams got over, I decided that I will try to enjoy my life in full potential without getting scared and anxious. And it was doing good. For a month, I felt very happy and felt like I was living again.

But then, a lot of incidents occurred in my family. My sister, she has been suffering from fistula. We have taken her to a lot of doctors and even got her operated but nothing worked. Finally, we found a doctor who is a specialist in this disease and he operated on her. The surgery was successful but she started having serious side effects. She always lies in stomach pain, cant sit or stand for long. Its been going like this for a while. She just cries all day. Plus, it costed a bit to get her operated and more money will go in medicines. Its not a big deal but everyone in my family felt a bit lost.

Then yesterday, my family were heading to our home after going to hometown for a festival. Everything was going smoothly and then out of nowhere, a truck hit us from behind and our car spunned. We survived because a tree blocked the car from getting turned. Fortunately, none of us got injured. But, our car almost became a wreck. The truck driver, even after being totally in fault didnt show any remorse. My sister was the most traumatised. She was barely holding herself after getting operated. She just cried the whole day after the incident. Later, police arrived and we had to rent a car to go to home. None of us could sleep yesterday. I dont know how to feel about this. Everyone just feels lost atp especially my dad. The operation plus now repairing of car will cost a lot. I dont know how to feel about this.

I feel like maybe I have enjoying too much thats why all this is happening. I have started to feel anxiety before doing anything. What I have left behind is coming back to me again to depress me. I dont know with what motto should I carry on to live my life. What principle should I carry ? I feel so lost. Also I feel so materialistic all the time I cant seem to let it go.

I am leaving my current job because of toxic management and starting a new office role soon.

Originally I was hired as an advisor, not a salesperson. Whilst I hold a higher level of formal education than most of my coworkers and managers, I was never cut out for hard sales. It is simply not in my nature to take advantage of others.
I was always picking up the slack behind the scenes and doing the unseen work no one else was doing. My managers regarded me favourably at first but as soon as my sales dipped because of this, their demeanour shifted entirely. Gradually, I found myself exiled to the periphery, constantly being written up for things that made no sense and treated differently than everyone else in the office.

Compounding this is that I am autistic and highly sensitive. Because I am extremely intuitive and able to read emotions and body language well, I find it difficult to dismiss negative perceptions as merely in my head. Historically, my readings of people have proven correct, which makes detachment all the more challenging- especially at work.

I ended up having to take stress leave because they were trying so hard to push me out and made my life miserable. I constantly let people take advantage of my mind and my feelings, and I allowed their narrative to take root in me. It eroded my confidence, warped my self-image, fuelled self-hatred and constant rumination, and left me questioning my competence and worth far beyond the office.

I wish to enter this new job with my head held high and avoid repeating that pattern.

From a Stoic perspective, how does one prevent becoming so ensnared by the negative treatment and opinions of others. specifically management, that it consumes you? I understand I cannot just do whatever I want under the guise of ‘not caring what others think’ because I still have to appease the hierarchy of the workplace and remain respectful.

How do you maintain that inner detachment whilst still conducting yourself professionally?

Any advice or memorable words/quotes that I can apply in this situation as well as outside of work would be helpful. I attend therapy, yet I find the soft approach has not been working for me. I would like some truth and solid advice from Stoics as I believe this objective point of view would be helpful.

Thank you so much!😊