Nicholas Barnard PHL399: Stoic Experiment 1/22/03
I conducted my stoic experiment on the results of the Lambda Union election for the President position. Running for this position is something that meant a great deal to me personally.
I lost the election. When the results were announced I was in a public place with the electorate initially I was very non-reactive on an external level, and on an internal level I was more dumbfounded more than anything else. I didn't have a desire to stay in the room and continue with the rest of the discussion, I had my own thinking to do.
I left the meeting and then went to the Lambda Union office, where I spent a bit of time staring at the ceiling thinking of what had happened. I then called a friend to get together for coffee to discuss what had happened.
On my way out of the office, I saw both of the Lambda Union advisors. I didn't really have a desire to talk to them, but they caught up with me in the hallway. At this point my “stoicism” failed, and I started to break down a bit, and we discussed what had happened, and I became a bit emotional.
I went to my apartment to wait for my friend to pick me up, and in this time of waiting, I let out a rash of vulgar emotions into my eJournal about what had happened.
When my friend arrived, I was again a bit calmer, and we calmly discussed what had happened for the next hour or two.
In the aftermath of all this, I spent a whole lot of time generally calmly discussing what had happened, and now when people come up to me and offer their condolences on my loss, my response is along the lines of “oh, it just is, but thank you.”
Did this work? I would have to say a general yes. In a slightly less mature, or less stoic response, I would have released the anger and loss I felt by wanting to cause physical damage. The stoic response, allowed me to respond to this event in a rational manner, and look at it and my options objectively, and get on with it quicker than I could have.