Note: Epictetus, Seneca and Aurelius examined fictional characters like Medea, Odysseus, and Hercules through a Stoic lens. Inspired, I apply the Stoic orientation to the messed-up impressions of characters in the TV stories of the original Perry Mason (1957 - 1966). In TCOT Perjured Parrot, Perry Mason says, "We've been talking quite a bit about becoming hypnotized by circumstantial evidence. After a person once gets a fixed belief, he interprets everything which happens in the light of that belief. It's a dangerous habit to get into and I'm afraid I haven't been entirely innocent, myself."
The Case of the Misguided Missile (Season 4, Episode 25; 5/6/61)
Aerospace engineer Dan Morgan’s obsession with rocket propulsion probably started when he was a teenager under the influence of pioneer Robert Godard in the Twenties. Morgan said “Jets hadn’t been invented when I was talking about missiles.” So in the early Sixties he landed his dream job in NASA’s space program. But a nosy auditor wouldn't let Morgan’s Sceptre blast off, so Morgan killed the auditor. On the stand a starry-eyed Morgan rants, “I built the first Sceptre, and it flew. It flew!”
In a culture that encourages people to pursue obsessions and fanaticisms, the Stoic stance is radical to say aloud but here goes. It’s possible to like and dislike, work and play, think and do in a moderate fashion. When our preference is moderate, it leads us to set reasonable goals and work toward them wisely. If our preference is immoderate, says Daniel Gilbert in Stumbling Toward Happiness, it leads us to lie, to cheat, to steal, to hurt others, and to sacrifice things of value, like spending time with family, for the sake of work – or whatever our passion is all about.
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