Marcus Aurelius: Socrates was wont to call the common…

Many of the things that frighten adults are simply larger versions of childhood monsters: embarrassment, being left out, looking foolish, losing status. They feel powerful because everyone around us agrees to treat them as powerful. Socrates called common opinion a bugbear—a made-up terror that still controls the people who believe in it. This does not mean public judgment never has consequences. It means we should inspect its authority before obeying it. Will it truly ruin your life if you ask a basic question, decline an invitation, admit a mistake, or try something at which you may fail? Usually, the danger is mostly imagined. The crowd moves on faster than we think. Name the fear precisely, and it often shrinks. Today, do one modest thing that embarrassment has been preventing. Let reality, not a phantom audience, tell you what happened.