Stoa Conversations: Stoicism Applied

Become more Stoic. Build resilience and virtue with ancient philosophy.

Author: Caleb

Caleb Ontiveros and Michael Tremblay discuss how to build resilience, develop virtue, and make sense of the world through Stoic philosophy. One episode a week. Get the Stoa app: www.stoameditation.com/pod [https://www.stoameditation.com/pod] Get the Stoa Letter: www.stoaletter.com/subscribe [https://www.stoaletter.com/subscribe?utm_sourcepodcast_description] www.stoaletter.com
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How to Be Smarter (Episode 217)
Tuesday, 6 January, 2026

What do the Stoics mean by intelligence? And how do you actually develop it?Caleb breaks down prudence into six trainable components from the ancient Stoic Arius Didymus: sound judgment, circumspection, shrewdness, sensibleness, soundness of aim, and ingenuity. Each gets a week. Each gets concrete exercises.This isn’t abstract philosophy. It’s a practical program for sharpening your thinking in whatever domain matters to you.(00:00) A Framework for Stoic Intelligence(04:50) Week 1: Sound Judgment — Knowing What to Do and How(12:50) Week 2: Circumspection — Keeping Your Perception Current(20:20) Week 3: Shrewdness — Acting Right Without Deliberation(28:40) Week 4: Sensibleness — Discerning Better from Worse(32:50) Week 5: Soundness of Aim — Hitting Your Target(37:10) Week 6: Ingenuity — Finding a Way Through(41:40) Closing ThoughtsDownload the Stoa app (it’s a free download): https://stoameditation.com/podIf you try the Stoa app and find it useful, but truly cannot afford it, email us and we’ll set you up with a free account.Listen to more episodes and learn more here: https://stoameditation.com/blog/stoa-conversations/Thanks to Michael Levy for graciously letting us use his music in the conversations: https://ancientlyre.com/ Get full access to The Stoa Letter at www.stoaletter.com/subscribe