"You have seen a hand cut off, or a foot, or a head, lying apart from the rest of the body. That is what a man does to himself when he refuses to accept what happens and breaks away from society."

Howard Hughes was one of the most famous men of the 20th century. He was a brilliant aviator, a daring filmmaker, and one of the wealthiest men in the world. He had the resources to connect with anyone, help anyone, and build anything.

But Hughes found the friction of dealing with other people unbearable. He struggled with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and a fear of germs. Instead of seeking help or accepting the messy reality of human interaction, he chose to withdraw.

In the final years of his life, Hughes lived in total darkness in the penthouse of the Desert Inn in Las Vegas. He refused to see anyone except a few Mormon aides. He didn't bathe. He didn't cut his nails. He sat naked in a chair, watching the same movies over and over again.

He had broken away from society. He thought he was protecting himself. In reality, he was decaying. When he finally died, he was emaciated and unrecognizable. The man who once flew around the world had become a "severed limb", a piece of human flesh rotting in a dark room because it had cut itself off from the body of humanity.

Marcus Aurelius uses a graphic image to wake us up. Imagine walking down the street and seeing a severed hand lying on the sidewalk. It is grotesque. It is useless. It can no longer grasp, hold, or feel. Marcus says this is exactly what you look like to nature when you isolate yourself.

We often glorify the "rugged individualist" or the "lone wolf". We think that needing other people is a weakness. We think that walking away from a conflict makes us strong. Marcus corrects this. He says that a human being is defined by connection. A hand is only a "hand" as long as it is attached to the arm. Once it is cut off, it is just meat.

When you sulk, give the silent treatment, or refuse to participate in your community because you're angry at the world, you're holding the knife. You're amputating yourself. You aren't punishing them, you're killing your own function.

Errors & Corrections

• Don't confuse solitude with isolation. Solitude is a temporary recharge (like a hand resting). Isolation is a permanent severance (like a hand cut off).
• Don't think you can "opt out" of the human race. You can physically hide, but your mind will disintegrate without social feedback, just as a limb dies without blood flow.
• Don't view compromise as defeat. Compromise is how the hand works with the arm. Refusing to compromise is the blade that severs the connection.

Applications to Modern Life

Interpersonal Relationships

The "Silent Treatment" is a common tactic in arguments. You refuse to speak to your partner to punish them. You're making yourself a severed limb. You're stopping the flow of communication which is the blood of the relationship. You're turning a problem into necrotic tissue. Speak up. Reattach.

Work

There is often a "brilliant jerk" in the office: A talented person who refuses to collaborate, belittles others, and hoards information. They think they are the "head". In reality, the organization eventually rejects them. They get fired or sidelined because a body cannot sustain a limb that refuses to coordinate with the nerves.

Social Media

Ironically, social media can be a tool for severance. We curate our feeds to only show people who agree with us. We block anyone who challenges us. We create a bubble. This bubble is a phantom limb. It feels like a community, but it is just a detached echo chamber that makes us less capable of dealing with the real world.

Civic Duty

People who say, "I don't do politics," or, "I don't care about my neighborhood," are severing themselves. They want the benefits of the body (roads, safety, economy) without the connection of the limb (participation). This parasitism eventually weakens the host and the parasite.

Maxims

• A hand alone is just meat.
• Isolation is decay.
• Flow with the blood, or rot.

In-depth Concepts

Telos (Purpose/Function)

Aristotle and the Stoics believed that a thing is defined by its function (Ergon). The function of an eye is to see. If an eye is removed from the head, it can no longer see. Therefore, strictly speaking, it's no longer an eye; it's just "ocular matter". A human's function is social reason. If you remove yourself from society, you cease to be fully human.

The Organic State

The Stoics did not view society as a "contract" between individuals (like modern philosophers). They viewed it as a biological organism. You don't sign a contract to be part of your family or your city. You grow out of them like a branch grows out of a tree. To cut yourself off is unnatural violence.