What’s in Your (Philosophical) Loadout?

In this salon, Dave Crouch hosts an exploration of the philosophical ideas and concepts that we can arm ourselves with to help us face the world. 

A “loadout” is a chosen set of weapons, tools, and other items carried into battle.  But what about the philosophical loadouts we all equip ourselves with in order to succeed, or at least survive?   What philosophical “equipment” do we take with us each day that help us meet the challenges of everyday life?

You may know the word “loadout” in video games or military contexts, referring to a set of weapons and equipment with which we arm our characters to take on the fights or challenges presented by the game.  Some games even allow the player to configure multiple loadouts, different combinations of gear with customized capabilities for different missions.

But what about the mental, emotional, and behavioral tools we equip as part of our daily lives?  We all have favorite sayings, daily habits, or even well-practiced viewpoints that are mentally near-to-hand, ready to be deployed as needed.  Some of us may even have multiple philosophical loadouts, one for normal days and others for days we know are going to involve bigger challenges.  With only so much brain-space available, how do we decide what mental tools, weapons, or armor to bring along?

This salon will be a lighthearted conversation about the bits of practical philosophy we all equip ourselves with on a daily basis, to share our approaches to life and its challenges, and to learn from each other.  Interestingly, “philosophical loadout” returns zero results on Google or DuckDuckGo, so this will be a debut of sorts for the concept itself!

What’s in your loadout?  How did you arrive at your current list of philosophical equipment, and where do you go for further inspiration?  Come and share with the rest of us!

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Purely optional reading for a few examples of loadout items:

The power of the 5-second rule:  https://www.goalcast.com/2020/06/19/mel-robbins-5-second-rule-to-improve-your-life/

Jay Johnson TED Talk:  How to deal with difficult people:  https://www.ted.com/talks/jay_johnson_how_to_deal_with_difficult_people

Visakan Veerasamy – Do 100 Things (thread):  http://www.visakanv.com/blog/100-2/

On Brene Brown and the power of authenticity:  https://verilymag.com/2016/08/the-power-of-vulnerability-shame-authenticity-brene-brown-ted-talks

Daily habits of great minds:  https://www.theladders.com/career-advice/the-daily-habits-of-great-minds-lessons-from-nietzsche-kant-tesla-darwin-einstein-and-hemingway

5 Easy Meditation Techniques to Practice at Work: https://chopra.com/articles/5-easy-meditation-techniques-to-practice-at-work

Some interesting thoughts on meaning and existentialism from Kenta Nagamine: https://mythirdbrain.substack.com/p/you-cant-find-the-meaning-of-life

Several potentially useful loadout items:
https://thriveglobal.com/stories/how-to-discover-creativity-meaning-inspiration-feeling-unmotivated/

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