Avoiding conforming to paradigms that no one is truly certain of
So much of what we do on a daily basis and in all facets of waking life is done solely for the reason that everyone else around us is doing the same. While there usually is a certain degree of validity in upholding the status quo whatever we do not know enough to contradict it, it would be naive to assume that all of the practices put in place by our predecessors and practiced by our peers are always the right things for us to do ourselves. This is a viewpoint that not enough people today take towards a lot of issues, labor especially.

Marcus Aurelius pointed out one of the most illuminating facts convincing us in the west to avoid wasting energy worrying about what others perceive us to be. He famously pointed out that it is always strange that while every person in the world puts his or herself before all others, no person usually puts his or her own opinions of his or herself before the opinions of others. In fact, it is our own opinions of ourselves which all too often take on a subordinate role compared to what others see in us, which is an absurd way to live with oneself.

life is suffering, and the source of all suffering is wanting