Would You Rather...
be a Viking or a Roman?
Last night, I was playing a game of "would you rather," and I got asked a pretty deep question:
"Would you rather know exactly when you’re going to die OR exactly when your partner is going to die?"
At first, both options seemed kind of scary. It's tough to imagine knowing when you'll kick the bucket, right? But is it really that bad?
What's so scary about death? It's when all the worries, stress, and pain of life disappear. Some people worry they'd feel sad as they got closer to that day. But why? It's really just fear of fear itself. You're scared that as death gets nearer, you'd get even more scared.
I don't quite agree, and Marcus doesn't either. He says,
"If it doesn’t matter whether you look at the world for a short time or a long time, then death shouldn’t scare you" (12.35)
We try to find meaning in life without thinking much about death. That's pretty strange because no one has ever avoided it. Well, except for maybe Tupac, Michael Jackson, and Elvis secretly chilling on an island somewhere.
I was thinking about how different cultures see death and I ended up in a Viking spiral.
Learning From Valhalla
I became fascinated by the idea of Valhalla, which is like a heaven for warriors. To get into Valhalla, you've got to die with honor on the battlefield. Even the toughest warrior who dies of sickness or old age won't make it there. It's all about how you die, not how you live. The implications are where it gets cool….
When you dig into it, you'll see that going to Valhalla means living like a brave warrior all the time. Why? Because if you don’t live the life of a brave warrior charging into battle every chance you get, you might not die that way. If you don't, you’ll end up in the underworld forever, which doesn't sound great.
Vikings are all about living the way they want to die. They shape their lives around it and risk death in battles they have no need to fight. They always have death in mind, and that pushes them to live according to a specific set of values (yes, they were atrocious barbarians and committed heinous acts as well but we can still learn something from them).
For a Viking, it's not about worrying what others think. They're only concerned about what Odin thinks on judgment day.
Norse-Stoicism - A New Philosophy
What if we learned something from Stoics and Vikings?
Let Death Guide You
From the Stoics' perspective, if you knew you were going to die someday, and others' opinions wouldn’t matter, what would you change about how you live?
Taking inspiration from the Vikings, think about how you want to die, and then live your life to make it happen.
*If you want to pass away with your family by your side, make sure you prioritize them today. If you want a life full of amazing memories, create those unforgettable moments.
Life comes with two guarantees: death and taxes. Not sure taxes can really give you good insights though so we’ll stick to death.
Brains Gains
How do you picture your own death?
Make a memory today. Do something you’ll remember for years. Pro tip - a really good deed usually does the trick.
Your friend,
Noah “BigNerd” Sochaczevski
Psst. Here’s a quote from next week’s book to get you excited…
One reason the best in the world make consistently good decisions is they rarely find themselves forced into a decision by circumstances.
If you want to follow along as we get better at decision-making, check out Clear Thinking. Order today during your Black Friday shopping