New element to Stoicism 101 - Daily Reflection Journal

 I have added another element of the Course on Stoicism 101 provided by Markham’s Lifelong Learning Center. The additional element will be a daily reflection journal. Here is the description and the assignment.

It is suggested that students keep a daily reflection journal writing brief entries about how they are applying Stoic concepts to their own lives. The journal is private and need not be shared, but it is beneficial at times to share thoughts and experiences captured in the writings in the journal with others welcoming their feedback. Daily journal prompts will be shared on a weekly basis over the semester.

Daily journal prompts for week one

1.1 How well do you know what makes you tick: not at all, little , somewhat, a lot, very aware?

1.2 Name one of the most powerful illuminating experiences in your life where your self understanding was significantly enhanced? What happened to bring about this experience?

1.3 Name the five most important things that have happened in your life that has contributed to how you view yourself and the world today? They could be big things or little things. They could be good things or bad things. They could be things which at the time you know would be very significant or maybe you didn’t realize that until some time later.

1.4 What secrets do you have and keep that you’ve never told anyone else? What has motivated you to keep them secret?

1.5 What blind spots have you had that were illuminated when you got feedback from others? The feedback could be about good things or bad things. Name one of each: good and bad.

1.6 In what ways, if at all, has your own pain and suffering made you more compassionate and empathetic towards others? Give an example.

1.7 To what extent does your own self esteem and self worth depend on what others think of you? 25%, 50%, 75%, 100%? Has this percentage of indirect self acceptance changed over the course of your life or is it different in different circumstances and in different relationships?

Markham's Lifelong Learning Center course: Stoicism 101

 Markham’s Lifelong Learning Center will be offering a free course online entitled Stoicism 101 this fall semester 2026 8/31/26 - 12/19/26. The class sessions will be published on www.noisl.org.

Here is a brief summary of the learning objectives:

1. By the end of the course the student will be able to name key concepts and leaders in Stoic philosophy.

2. By the end of the course the student will have developed some experience and skills in applying these key concepts in their personal life.

3. By the end of the course the student will be able to articulate the key benefits of understanding Stoic philosophy and why it matters to them personally and to others in the world.

Course resources:

There will be many texts referred to over the semester. The main text is Stoicism 101 by Erick Cloward.

Other articles and videos will be utilized throughout the semester and links to the materials will be provided.

The class sessions will be  asynchronous so students can access the course content at any time on www.noisl.org. There will be opportunities for students to meet online to discuss their course experience if they wish. If the student wishes to participate in online meetings they should send their email address with their statement about their wish to be included in online discussions to me, David G. Markham, at davidgmarkham@gmail.com

Purpose of the course, Stoicism 101.

The purpose of this course is to introduce the student to the key ideas, practices, and values of Stoic philosophy. Stoicism is not just a model of philosophical thoughts, but a strategy to achieve a happy life which is based on a life of virtue. It is hoped that understanding and practicing Stoicism will benefit individuals, families, communities, and the world.

Class one - Introduction and overview

1. Who are the primary leaders in Stoicism?

2. What are some of the primary texts and their themes?

Homework:

Read Cloward pp. 7-40

Leave comments in the class one article on www.noisl.org 

The examination of conscience

Most attempts to understand consciousness begin with human consciousness, which is surely the most challenging case. Not only is there the self to deal with, but there is also the fact that we humans are, or can be, conscious of being conscious—we have metaconsciousness, adding a whole other layer of complexity. Then there is the role of culture and history in the shaping of human consciousness; consciousness in the West in the twenty-first century is different in important respects from consciousness in other cultures at other points in time. It’s little wonder that the phenomenon of human consciousness can seem to us so far removed from the rest of nature. P. 1-2

We are half way through the month of August 2026 in which I am reporting on my reading of Michael Pollan’s book, A World Appears: A Journey Into Consciousness. Pollan divides his description of consciousness into four components: sentience, feeling, thought, and self consciousness.

Most religions comment on and offer advice about how their practitioners should manage their self consciousness all the way from Christians who teach that every human being has been born into sin due to Adam and Eve’s disobedience of god’s command not to eat of the apple from the tree of knowledge to the nondualistic spiritualities that teach the world as we perceive it is an illusion which we make up as we project our fear, guilt, and shame onto what we perceive.

Pollan points out that not only is self consciousness the product of our neurobiology but of our cultural understandings and conditioning.

What were you taught about your self consciousness? 

As a child of seven as part of my religious formation as a Roman Catholic I was taught that before communion is was to go to confession which involved examining my conscience to identify my sins and then report them to the priest in the confessional so that I could be forgiven by god. So as I reached the age of reason at age seven I not only was taught that I had a conscience but that I was to examine it on a regular basis and report to the priest my mistakes (sins) and seek forgiveness.

Socrates taught that an unexamined life was not worth living. As a young child I was taught the same thing and given a practice to engage in examining and reporting on my findings on a regular basis.

What is consciousness for?

 What is consciousness for? Most of what our brains do to keep us alive happens automatically, under the hood and outside our awareness. So why are some of these operations available for reflection? When did this capacity emerge in evolution and why? And then this: Is it within our power to change our everyday default consciousness? Could that be one of its functions—to give us a way to reflect on our automatic behaviors so that we might transcend them and transform ourselves? P. xxx-xxxi, A World Appears by Michael Pollan

Question: What is consciousness for?

Answer: The function of consciousness is to come to know, love, and serve God. (Our Higher Power). It is one thing to be aware and self conscious. It is another thing to be conscious that one is aware and self conscious. What purpose does this awareness of our consciousness serve? It allows us to become aware of Life. We aren’t just living. We are aware that we are living? Is this a path to transcendence and salvation? With this consciousness we get to choose between the ego world with all its illusions and shadows or returning to become One again with our Transcendent Source.

An Unexamined Life Is Not Worth Living

 It’s entirely possible to go through life without worrying about the “problem” of consciousness—what it is and how it came to be. In fact, it takes a certain kind of mind for “the problem” to arise—one that is self-conscious, or aware that it is aware, and marvels at this mystery (which is, when you stop to think about it, astounding). P.xxix A World Appears, Michael Pollan

Some people live examined lives and some don’t. The degree to which a person objectively examines their own life is directly related to their mental health. Without self awareness a person is the victim of emotional and cognitive forces that they are not aware of. 

Awareness of one’s own functioning is the first skill out of twenty one in Cindy Wigglesworth’s model of spiritual intelligence. 

Markham’s motto is “If you can’t name it you can’t manage it so what is it that is influencing you? Do you have a name for it?”

How would you define consciousness?

The fact that all of us have an intuitive sense of what consciousness is doesn’t make it any easier to define. The simplest definition is “subjective or felt experience” or, to prune the redundancy, “experience,” plain and simple. “Awareness” is another serviceable one-word definition. P.xxvii A World Appears by Michael Pollan

Socrates said that an unexamined life is not worth living and the bumper sticker says that an unlived life is not worth examining.

Do you live an examined life? What percentage of the population that you know personally would say live examined lives?

What is an examined life? It is being conscious of your consciousness. To what extent are you conscious of your consciousness: never, rarely, sometimes, often, always.

Consciousness - Integrative Information Theory

According to IIT, every such moment of consciousness shares the same five specific qualities: It is “intrinsic” (that is, it has an internal perspective); it is “composed” of many distinct phenomenal parts (think of the way the experience combines elements of perception, memory, feeling, imagination, etc.); it is “integrated,” or unified (these elements are joined together in a single experience at a time); it is “definitive” (it is this and not that, in other words); and it is “bounded” (it has an edge beyond which the conscious perception doesn’t go).

Integrative information theory to explain consciousness isn’t completely satisfying. I like the idea that it proposes that consciousness is not located in the brain but is created beyond the mechanical operation of the brain itself.

ITT reminds me of the concept of “selective perception” which means that we become consciously aware of only that with which we pay attention. People with ADHD have difficulty with selective perception and are very distracted by various stimuli. Because of the ADHD they have difficulty focusing and concentrating unless they hyper focus.

Any rate, the attempt to articulate some of the characteristics of consciousness is somewhat interesting and helpful: intrinsic, integrated, definitive, definitive, bounded.

In everyday terms we talk about different kinds of consciousness such as ”self consciousness,” “cosmic consciousness,” “examine one’s conscience,” “ being conscious and unconscious.” The big question is “does consciousness survive physical death?” Do you think it does? If so, how?