You may have heard Stoics say that you should strive to live in accordance with nature and instantly had a brief cabin-in-the-woods movie play in your mind. Even though the tranquility and fresh air seemed instantly appealing, you couldn’t help but classify it as yet another unattainable requirement set by someone living in their ivory tower, far away from real life. Why the hell is every philosophy trying to turn me into a monk?, you probably said to yourself before resolving that inner peace just isn’t in the cards for you.

Not so fast. Before you dismiss Stoicism based on a single misunderstood tenet, let me add the missing word that reveals the true meaning behind the sage advice: you should live according to your nature. Keep reading to find out why this is not only fully compatible with modern life, but also why it might just be the missing link to feeling happier and calmer on the daily. Chalet not required.

First things first. Where does this come from?

Who Said the Goal of Life is Living in Agreement with Nature? What is “Nature” in This Context?

Thanks to Diogenes Laertius and his "Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers", this Stoic concept is easily traced back to Zeno, the founder of Stoicism, who is quoted as saying that

 “The goal of life is living in agreement with Nature.” -- Zeno

For Zeno, Nature is a word that encompasses reality and all of its inner-workings: “All things are parts of one single system, which is called Nature”. This includes the laws of the Universe in the scientific sense, but also fate as the context in which one exists. While you simply cannot oppose the former - as anyone who has tried to defy gravity can attest - it is much more difficult to subject yourself ungrudgingly to the latter. Even more so if you’re a 21st century human who has been socialized to believe that their individual choices (aka free will) are crucial to the ultimate outcome of their life. 

Luckily, the two beliefs can be reconciled, as there is no contradiction between having free will and accepting your fate. If you are tempted to think otherwise, it might be time to reevaluate your definition of “destiny”, because it might be too broad. 

If we limit our understanding of “fate” to the sum of the things that are predetermined in life, it quickly becomes obvious that destiny refers to the aspects of your existence that are completely out of your control, such as: 

• the overlap between your life and the broader historical context,

• the genetic markup you inherited at birth, as well as your unique talents and abilities. 

You cannot choose who your parents are or whether you are born in times of economic prosperity or war. The course of your life simply samples a part of the continuum of the world. Think of history as a line; your life is then simply a zoomed-in portion of that line.

In other words, “fate” is just an emphatic way of referring to the cards you were dealt when you entered the game of life. How you choose to play them remains entirely up to you (that’s where free will comes into play). 

Your destiny can be viewed as a fact (objective truth): you are sitting at the table and were dealt some cards. They are X, Y and Z. There is no mention of whether they represent a winning or losing hand, as that moral judgment cannot exist outside the realm of personal agency.

Since we’ve established what “nature” means, we can now have a closer look at what a life that honors it might look like.

What Does it Mean to Live in Accordance with Nature? A few Practical Ideas.

Starting from the definition of “fate” that we have examined previously, at least two ways of living in accordance to nature emerge:

1. Living in accordance with human nature - since this forms the basis of how you will experience the world, and

2. Living in accordance with the Zeitgeist (spirit of the times) since this is the specific slice of the world that you will experience while you’re around.

Living in accordance with human nature

The fact that you were born a human (rather than a cat or some other creature) is the most defining thing that will have ever happened to you. It comes with the ability to walk, talk and most importantly, think. Rationality is the characteristic that allows your journey through the Universe to have a unique trajectory and is a trait that you should embrace, cherish and use to the best of your ability. 

(Notice I didn’t mention consciousness, since we’re starting to see some evidence of animals having a semblance of it, too.) 

Consider the life of an animal: stuck between feeding, sleeping and breeding, its existence is largely identical to that of its peers. By contrast, as a human, you get to “choose your own adventure”, in that the mark you leave on the world is entirely up to you. This is where your nature as an individual comes in: your personality, your inclinations and talents, as well as your weaknesses. 

The best way to honor your individuality (and thus live in accordance with your nature) is to strive to fulfill your potential. Remember that pursuing “the highest good” (Stoic virtue, aka moral excellence) requires you to be your best self at all times. Aside from this, you should make a conscious effort to cultivate critical thinking and train yourself to follow rationality over emotion. One way to do this is to practice philosophy, just as Marcus Aurelius advises:

“Human life. Duration: momentary. Nature: changeable. Perception: dim. Condition of Body: decaying. Soul: spinning around. Fortune: unpredictable. Lasting Fame: uncertain. Sum Up: The body and its parts are a river, the soul a dream and mist, life is warfare and a journey far from home, lasting reputation is oblivion. Then what can guide us? Only philosophy.” – Marcus Aurelius

Provided that it doesn’t distract you from pursuing moral excellence (since they are “preferred indifferents”), you should consider that maintaining a few creature comforts also falls under the guiding principle of “living in accordance with nature”. 

Let’s take the example of Emily, who frequently skimps on sleep due to maintaining a full social calendar, balancing a demanding career and subjecting herself to a strict work-out schedule. If Emily’s goal is to practice Stoicism and live in accordance with nature, she needs to readjust her priorities so that she is less at odds with a basic tenet of her being: that humans need sleep in order to live their best lives. Remember that Stoicism is trying to teach us how to live a virtuous AND tranquil life, so even if Emily’s motives are noble, her approach is not ideal if one wants to optimize for flourishing also. 

If you’ve ever found yourself incapable of pursuing your higher goals because some aspect of your life you’ve neglected suddenly became urgent (I know I have!), Maslow’s hierarchy of needs might give you some good hints about what the foundation for a thriving existence might look like.

This is just one tool that (social) science has given us in its quest to uncovering more and more of human nature - a privilege the Ancients did not have - so one could argue that it’s easier to be a Stoic today than ever before, since “living in accordance with nature” is a much better defined imperative than it used to be. 

On this note, it becomes clear that a modern Stoic would do well to stay up to date with the latest findings in the field to learn better ways of harnessing their (human) condition, as well as doing their utmost to develop their self-awareness. 

Phew, that was a long one. Thanks for sticking around so far! There’s one last aspect of living in accordance with nature that we need to explore that’s crucial for living a less stressful life, then you’ll be ready to apply these tips in the wild. And that is …

Living in accordance with the Zeitgeist

Quick refresher: the Zeitgeist - also called the ‘spirit of the times’ - is the cultural backdrop of a certain period of time. It encompasses all the attitudes, trends and characteristics of an age or generation. Millennials posting Instagram pictures of brunch are part of the Zeitgeist; so is the preoccupation with the environment, LGBTQ rights and Web3.0, for example. It’s not like some of these issues didn’t exist before, but they weren’t as prominent in public discourse as they are currently, which is why they are representative of the early 21st century and will be recorded by history as such. 

What does any of this have to do with Stoicism, you ask? Well, it’s obvious that the Zeitgeist is bigger than any single individual and thus resides out of one’s control. Think of it as a general mood in which you were destined to exist. Whether you like it or not, subscribe to its values or not, it is not only impractical to oppose the spirit of the times, but it could also cause you and others a ton of suffering. (That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t fight for or against the issues you find important, as that would be decidedly un-Stoic.) To better illustrate this point, let’s take Harvey as an example. 

Harvey is a 87-year old father of two who enjoys his early-morning bacon and eggs at the local diner together with his daily newspaper and has no interest in the technology that “kids these days” are so fond of. He refuses to carry a mobile phone or keep a laptop with an Internet connection at home, arguing that since he got on thus far in life without them, he can continue doing so till the end of his days. (Note that Harvey also retired from his job before computers became a staple of office work, so he was never “forced” to adapt and embrace them.) 

Is Harvey practicing Stoicism by bringing himself closer to nature through his rejection of technological innovation? Should he seclude himself in a cabin in the woods (to return to our original point), while he’s at it? Is he the epitome of moral righteousness he thinks he is?

I would argue that he’s not. Through his rejection of the Zeitgeist, he is making his own life unnecessarily difficult, as more of the people and businesses he interacted with move online. He’s definitely not scoring high on tranquility; but he’s also not excelling in virtue, since he is a constant worry for his two sons, who have no way to reach him in case of an emergency. He’s effectively diminishing his chances of survival in an accident that would otherwise not have killed him, if the ambulance would have been called in time, and is thus reducing the number of opportunities he has to impact the world in a positive way. Imagine him as the old man yelling at clouds from the Simpsons and you’ll realize why it’s not only pointless, but also ridiculous to oppose the spirit of the times. 

Of course, I am only speculating here, since Epictetus, Seneca and Marcus never had to deal with the exponential acceleration of progress during their lifetime, so they didn’t provide any guidelines for us to refer to. Maybe they would have seen things otherwise, but something tells me this interpretation of living in accordance to the Zeitgeist is not far off, as this quote from our favorite Roman emperor proves:

“Don’t ever forget these things: The nature of the world. My nature. How I relate to the world. What proportion of it I make up. That you are part of nature, and no one can prevent you from speaking and acting in harmony with it, always.” – Marcus Aurelius

A final note.

One of the reasons I started this website was the desire to look at the growing knowledge about human nature (no matter the field it stems from, be it biology, psychology, economics, literature, neuroscience or something else) and to refine what it means to live in a way that takes this into account in order to maximize your potential. 

A fuzzy definition of “nature” does not allow you to find actionable strategies on how to live your best life, which makes it less likely that you will achieve eudaimonia. I want to help you actively fight against this, because my hope is that each and all of us should have a chance to look back on our existence and feel that we have thrived and not simply survived. (In other words, I do the research work so you don’t have to, because your time is better spent implementing the advice!)