I’ve noticed something even more general: people that have a well-defined philosophy of life seems more motivated and resilient to setbacks or tragedy than those who lack such a self-narrative. But this appears to be the case even for philosophies of life which have tenets that contradict (or at least stand is strong tension with) each other in important ways, such as Christianity, Objectivism, Buddhism, Stoicism, etc...
This is pure anecdote, and obviously the people I come in contact with are not even close to a random sample of humanity, so I’d very much like to be pointed towards a more systematic study of the phenomena (or lack thereof).
I’ve noticed something even more general: people that have a well-defined philosophy of life seems more motivated and resilient to setbacks or tragedy than those who lack such a self-narrative. But this appears to be the case even for philosophies of life which have tenets that contradict (or at least stand is strong tension with) each other in important ways, such as Christianity, Objectivism, Buddhism, Stoicism, etc...
This is pure anecdote, and obviously the people I come in contact with are not even close to a random sample of humanity, so I’d very much like to be pointed towards a more systematic study of the phenomena (or lack thereof).