Re: I'll talk about a bunch of things here
Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2025 10:00 pm
There is a show that they are talking about here:
https://youtu.be/KO6gxCl8qC0?feature=shared
I have never seen it. It appears to be popular. It has a lot of merchandise already which sells out. It introduces people to "Goetic Demons" and uses them, making the names of such more mainstream than ever before in the United States. Before this, the most mainstream mentions of them were still rather fringe, as they appeared in Japanese video games like Shin Megami Tensei and Devil May Cry, with the latter being more mainstream and popularly played in the United States, but not as much with the Goetic Demon Names as much as with the more well established names overall.
Much more popular than Goetic Demon Names are the names of demons which are also much more well known from being outside of the Goetic Names, and in the United States and worldwide, the most access to the names in popular culture were games in the Diablo series by Blizzard Entertainment most likely, and just general Christian culture and evangelism that focuses on some of these names.
The most popular and well known is Satan, generally synonymous with "The Devil", which is the namesake of the game series "Diablo" and brings up a title or term closely identified with all the others and the concept of a fiery Hell, Darkness, Death, Torture, and the Occult. Those things seem to indicated symbolically on the cover art, which may be more witnessed thsn actual gameplay which will have a drastic drop from all those who merely hear of it somehow, then those who see more like the cover art, and it keeps getting into a smaller population from there.
Another extremely popular, but far less popular than the international term "Satan" and the overall concept of "The Devil" and "Demons" and "Angels" is Beelzebub, sometimes also called Beezlebub.
This show though that the video is bringing up, brings up and highlights far more obscure and less known names, like "Stolas".
People in the comments are bringing up modern obsessions like "intimate partner abuse" frequently, and the show might deal with various social dynamics, coupled with music, and has attracted many females and the "LGBTQ+" community to it, by also apparently having stuff which is of interest to them like less common or strict rules having to do with sexuality, identity, and relationship boundaries between different categories of people, and some more gender bent ways of dressing and acting.
This is a hugely popular show presented on YouTube.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivienne_Medrano
She has a birthdate very close to mine, but a different year.
"
She is bisexual,[44] and on the asexual spectrum.[45] She grew up Presbyterian, and says she remembers going to church and questioning a lot of stories in the Bible—Adam and Eve and Lucifer, in particular.[46]
"
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asexuality
I'm heterosexual and really like the appearance of women, but don't get any action, a much more literal involuntary celibate than the ones who get called that who seem to be socially inept, misogynistic, and self-sabotaging.
"
In a January 2024 interview following the release of Hazbin Hotel on Amazon Prime Video, she described herself as a "queer woman on the internet who made something popular", and related herself to her character Charlie Morningstar, saying that both she and Charlie are in a "position of fighting uphill battles to just have [their] dreams exist."[47] Previously, Medrano had described herself, on social media, as a "proud 'fiery' [L]atina," and said that Vaggie was the character she related to most, saying that Vaggie and Charlie "feel like sides of [her]self."[48]
"
Ethnic and Racial stereotypes bother me and make me sad.
I was looking at some descriptions on old cards from a Dungeons and Dragons Adjacent game series, and they were describing these "Jaguar Warrior" humans who are very directly inspired by Aztec things, in such a sad way, because it was so childish and limited, like they were not allowed to be as complex or unique and individualistic as the characters who were more Western inspired, even if that individuality comes through the form of villainy, though they would generally be villains in some way too as they are dedicated to a God in the game world that is associated with evil and evil things, Zaltec, in perhaps and attempt to treat their characters with Western "respect", they made them Noble Savages and "Braves", and one could almost hallucinate the "Tonto-esque" way that they were most likely being thought of. The drawings of their faces, and there were two character cards at least that I have seen of these, are both totally without personality or uniqueness, while the Western seeming character is full of character and uniqueness.
So when this woman, in my opinion "caves" to the stereotypes of being a "fiery Latina", I feel sick to my stomach. I despise that stuff. It is that stuff that is currently behind so much evil that is occurring right now, like the stereotyping and imposing of stereotypes that the J people are doing to the P people, and how the J book has basically always implied things like that, possibly more overtly or in a now more popular fashion than any other text due to it being so widespread now, like their prejudices towards various groups that were viewed as automatically an enemy or "bad" category, ignoring how vile they would appear to be as a whole if they were viewed and treated in the same way as they view and treat "others", but we are meant to not hold them to the same standards, in which case their villainy recorded in their own telling of their supposed history, hopefully largely fabricated, reveals that they were for the most part very similar seeming to the mostly European and Caucasian variants that exist today in their horrible thinking that lead to horrible ways of dealing with all the "out groups" and really even "their own".
Supposedly, these Goetic Names derive from traditions that are J*d**-Christian in nature, though the names at times may connect to other cultures and languages where they were used before J*d**-Christian influence, and were thought of in different ways.
They are categorized now as "demons", which for many makes them "automatically bad", like how "Canaanite" and now "Palestinian" is meant to mean "automatically bad", no matter what their age, ancient or infant.
Hispanic people, a people under the influence of a "Latin", "Romance" culture, the heirs of Latin like the Italians and with a more clearly Vulgar Latin seeming language than the French most likely or even the Portuguese, many of which also descend from a colonized people, with layers of colonial history and tension, since the people of Iberia were colonized by Rome, they were colonized by Christianity, by Germans, by Arian Christian Kingdoms possibly, by Muslims, then they performed the ReConquista and ended up imposing Northern groups upon Southern groups that had little real historical unity or connection with the Northern Groups, and their languages were pushed further away in favor of the Northern "Standards". It didn't end there, then they went and they terrorized people through the Inquisition, and terrorized the Catalans, the Basque, and many more tribes and families, and had the Spanish Inquisition, they imposed themselves on the Americas and brought ruin there and tried to wipe out those cultures and people too, they became like a killer virus.
Now the people throughout the Spanish world have this confused rage and hatred in themselves that is carried through their language and history, where alien things were repeatedly imposed upon them and then pushed forcefully on to others, a culture of bullying and abuse which had led to a lot of machismo complexes, chauvinism, colorism, unspoken but still very active and real casteism and classism, and a deep desire to lash out and rebel while also wanting and even loving authoritarianism on the other hand. They have a very strong attraction to the Satanic and Demonic, and to be Contrary but not necessarily "Counter-Culture" in the same way as others.
All that sh"t, and it is truly sh*t, stinking sh*t, seems to make its way into this cartoon made by this "fiery Latina" "bisexual asexual", lol, all of that nonsense gibberish seeming to very specifically give some insight into the batsh*t crazy thinking of the modern Romans of today.
As far as I can tell, very little of the Native mindset may have actually survived in comparison to the things which can be traced to Roman and Hispanic thinking from the Spanish language being used and so the dominant way in which these people even think to themselves, and language matters VERY much, and what is carried in those languages. I speak in my mind some form of "American English" and carry the sentiments and attitudes of an "American", which are totally at odds in many ways to what is being presented by the mainstream media today as the norms of an American or of America, such as through films which possibly the vast majority are finding in at least some ways unpleasant and objectionable and not representing their standards or ideals or even their true culture, as if it was written by alien groups, and it often really is being written by people with little to no experience with the mainstream culture of the North American people, but by a tiny minority with different cultures, evrn if they are "caucasian" or "English" in their ancestry, they have never lived like we have, or been given the thinking through the language and history that we have, yet they are made out to be the writers of a culture they try to make the norm, and people are finding that it is really not mixing and meshing comfortably with the ways in which they were raised or the prior culture that they were indoctrinated with. This is causing "Western" people in general to seek out groups that they can better identify with or tools and "technologies" they feel are such that they can use more freely to express their sentiments through, so Islam and Satanism, both considered the Arch Heresies of the Latinate and Western World, are what so many are flocking to throughout the West, since both represent the Rebellion Against Oppression and the Authoritarian Justice we had been raised to consider the "American Way", where Christianity appears instead to be slavish and effeminate, not suitable to the Virile Modern Roman, still full of "Fire":
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtus
"
The origins of the word virtus can be traced back to the Latin word vir, 'man'. The common list of attributes associated with virtus were considered to be particularly masculine strengths. From the early to the later days of the Roman Empire, there appears to have been a development in how the concept was understood.
Originally virtus described specifically martial courage, but it eventually grew to be used to describe a range of Roman virtues. It was often divided into different qualities including prudentia (practical wisdom), iustitia (justice), temperantia (temperance, self-control), and fortitudo (courage). This division of virtue as a whole into cardinal virtues is an ongoing project of positive psychology or, in philosophy, virtue ethics, following a tradition originating in Plato's Republic and Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics. It implies a link between virtus and the Greek concept of arete.
At one time virtus extended to include a wide range of meanings that covered one general ethical ideal.[1] The use of the word grew and shifted to fit evolving ideas of what manliness meant.[2] Once, virtus meant primarily that a man was a brave warrior, but it came also to mean that he was a good man, someone who did the right thing. During the time of the decline of the Roman elite, the Roman upper class no longer thought of themselves as unmanly if they did not serve in the military.[3]
"
"
Virtus came from an aristocratic tradition in which it described a specific type of public conduct. It was mainly applicable to those in the cursus honorum, certainly by the late republic at least. It was not a "private" virtue in the way that modern people might consider it. Valor, courage, and manliness were not things to be pursued in the private sphere of the individual or the individual's private concerns. There could be no virtue in exploiting one's manliness in the pursuit of personal wealth, for example. Virtus was exercised in the pursuit of gloria for the benefit of the res publica resulting in the winning of eternal memoria. According to D.C. Earl, "Outside the service of the res publica there can be no magistratus and therefore, strictly speaking, no gloria, no nobilitas, no virtus."[4]
The nobility of virtus lay not only in one's personal acta but also those of one's ancestors. However Cicero, a novus homo, asserted that virtus was a virtue particularly suited to the new man just as nobilitas was suited to the noble. Cicero argued that just as young men from noble families won the favor of the people so too should the novus homo earn the favor of the people with his virtus. He asserted that virtus, and not one's family history, should decide a man's worthiness. Because virtus is something that a man earns himself, not something that is given to him by his family, it is a better measure of a man's ability. Cicero's goal was not to impugn the noble class but widen it to include men who had earned their positions by merit.[5]
The term virtus was used quite significantly by the historian Sallust, a contemporary of Cicero. Sallust asserted that virtus did not rightfully belong to the nobilitas as a result of their family background but specifically to the novus homo through the exercise of ingenium (talent, also means sharpness of mind, sagacity, foresight, and character). For Sallust and Cicero alike, virtus comes from winning glory through illustrious deeds (egregia facinora) and the observance of right conduct through bonae artes.[6]
"
"
Virtus was not universally applicable—typically only adult male Roman citizens could be thought of as possessing virtus.
Women
edit
Virtus was rarely attributed to women, probably because of its association with vir. The highest regarded female virtue was pudicitia: 'modesty' or 'chastity'. Cicero, however, attributes virtus to women several times. He uses it once to describe Caecilia Metella when she helps a man who is being chased by assassins.[Note 1] Twice more he uses it when describing his daughter, Tullia, portraying her in his letters as brave in his absence.[10] He uses it again to describe his first wife Terentia during his exile.[11] Livy in Book 2 attributes it to Cloelia.[12]
Children
edit
Virtus was not a term commonly used to describe children. Since virtus was primarily attributed to a full-grown man who had served in the military, children were not particularly suited to obtain this particular virtue.
Slaves
edit
While a slave was able to be homo ('man') he was not considered a vir. Slaves were often referred to as puer (Latin for 'boy') to denote that they were not citizens.[13] Since a slave could not be a vir it follows that they could not have the quality of virtus. Once a slave was manumitted, he was able to become a vir and also classified as a freedman, but this did not allow him to have virtus. A good slave or freedman was said to have fides, but no virtus.[13]
Foreigners
edit
Foreigners in the Roman world could be attributed with virtus, for example, if they fought bravely. Virtus could also be lost in battle. Virtus could even be a qualification for citizenship, as in the case of Spanish cavalry men granted citizenship by Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo in 89 BCE for their virtus in battle.[14]
"
"
Virtus applies exclusively to a man's behaviour in the public sphere; that is, to the application of duty to the res publica in the cursus honorum. His private business was no place to earn virtus, even when it involved courage, feats of arms, or other associated qualities performed for the public good.
In private
edit
While in many cultures it is considered "manly" to father and provide for a family, family life was considered in the Roman world to be part of the private sphere, in which there was no place for virtus. Most uses of virtus to describe any part of private life are ambiguous and refer to another similar quality.[15] In the Roman world the oldest living patriarch of the family was called the pater familias. This title implied that he could make all legal and binding decisions for the family; he also owned all its money, land, and other property. His wife, daughters, sons, and his sons' families were all under his potestas. The only time a son was seen as separate from his father's control in the eyes of other Romans was when he assumed his public identity as a citizen. He could earn his virtus by serving in the military, and thus he could only demonstrate manliness outside of the family setting. This is another reason that virtus is not often used to describe Roman private life.[16]
In public
edit
Virtus was a crucial component for a political career. Its broad definition led to it being used to describe a number of qualities that the Roman people idealized in their leaders.
In everyday life a typical Roman, especially a young boy, would have been inculcated with the idea of virtus. Since military service was a part of the lives of most Roman men, military training would have started fairly early. Young boys would have learned how to wield weapons and military tactics starting at home with their fathers and older male relatives and later in school. Also a young boy would have heard numerous stories about past heroes, battles, and wars. Some of these stories would have told of the virtus of past heroes, and even family members. Publicly it was easy to see the rewards of virtus. Public triumphs were held for victorious generals and rewards were given to brave fighters. This propaganda encouraged young boys coming into their manhood to be brave fighters and earn virtus. It was the duty of every generation of men to maintain the dignitas which his family had already earned and to enlarge it. Pressure to live up to the standards of one's ancestors was great. In achieving virtus one could also achieve gloria. By gaining virtus and gloria one could hope to aspire to high political office and great renown.
Cicero suggested that virtus was real manhood and that it boiled down to "Ever to excel". He declared that, "The whole glory of virtue [virtus] resides in activity." A Roman political man would only need to show scars in defense of the Republic to prove his worth.
Romans established their status through activity, creating a pecking order of honour. This involved agon—a test, trial, or ordeal requiring active effort to overcome. This activity was thought to banish certain characteristics of Roman thought that were believed to be negative. Such negative characteristics included being shameless, inactive, isolated, or leisurely and were the absence of virtus; placing dignitas into a static, frozen state. The contest established one's being and constructed the reality of one's virtus. Romans were willing to suffer shame, humiliation, victory, defeat, glory, destruction, success, and failure in pursuit of this.
Virtus was often associated with being aggressive[citation needed] and this could be dangerous in the public sphere and the political world. Displays of violent virtus were controlled through several methods. Men seeking to hold political office typically had to follow the cursus honorum. Many political offices had an age minimum which ensured that the men filling the positions had the proper amount of experience in the military and in government. Thus, even if a man proved himself capable of filling a position or was able to persuade people that he was capable, he would not necessarily be able to hold the position until he had reached a certain age. Minimum age also ensured an equal basis for candidates in elections for public offices, because by the time most men went into public office they would have retired from military service. Furthermore, before any Roman soldier could partake in single combat, he had to gain permission from his general. This was meant to keep soldiers from putting themselves in unnecessary danger in order to gain virtus.
Politically, virtus also tended to be a concept of morality. In contrast to its representation of manliness—as seen in aggression and the ruthless acquisition of money, land, and power—the lighter, more idealistic political meaning almost took on the extended meaning of pietas, as a man who was morally upright and concerned with the matters of the state.[17]
Plautus in Amphitruo contrasted virtus and ambitio. Virtus is seen as a positive attribute, while though ambitio itself is not necessarily a negative attribute it is often associated with negative methods such as bribery. Plautus said that just as great generals and armies win victory by virtus, so should political candidates. Ambitio "is the wrong method of reaching a good end". Part of virtus, in the political sphere, was to deal justly in every aspect of one's life, especially in political and state matters.[18]
According to Brett and Kate McKay, the Roman identity exists in a paradigm[clarification needed]; Rome was a contest culture and honor culture. Romans believed "your identity was neither fixed nor permanent, your worth was a moving target, and you had to always be actively engaged in proving yourself."[19]
Sexuality
edit
While in many cultures the virtue of manliness is seen as being partly sexual,[citation needed] in the Roman world the word virtus did not necessitate sexuality. Similar words deriving from the same stem often have sexual connotations, such as the word for man itself (vir) and the concept of "virility" (virilitas).[20] Nonetheless, poems such as Catullus 16 and the Carmina Priapea,[21] as well as speeches such as Cicero's In Verrem, demonstrate that manliness and pudicitia, or sexual propriety, were linked.[22]
Marcellus and the Temple
edit
M. Claudius Marcellus, during the battle of Clastidium in 222 BCE, dedicated a temple to Honos and Virtus. This was one of the first times that Virtus had been recognized as divine. The connection with Honos would have been obvious to most Romans, as demonstrations of virtus led to election to public office, and both were considered honos. The cult of Honos was already a long-standing tradition in Rome. The marriage of the two deities ensured that Virtus would also get proper respect from the Romans. But the pontiffs objected that one temple could not properly house two gods because there would be no way of knowing to which god to sacrifice should a miracle happen in the temple.[citation needed]
Augustus
edit
During the reign of Augustus, the Senate voted that a golden shield be inscribed with Augustus' attributes and displayed in the Curia Iulia, these virtues including virtus, clementia, iustitia, and pietas. These political catchwords continued to be used as propaganda by later emperors.
In literature
edit
The comic poet Plautus made use of virtus in his play Trinummus, which concerned family virtus, honor, public office, and obligations to the state. He also offered commentary on the concept of virtus in Amphitruo (see § In public above).[23]
Cicero said, "[only] virtus usually wards off a cruel and dishonorable death, and virtus is the badge of the Roman race and breed. Cling fast to [virtus], I beg you men of Rome, as a heritage that your ancestors bequeathed to you. All else is false and doubtful, ephemeral and changeful: only virtus stands firmly fixed, its roots run deep, it can never be shaken by any violence, never moved from its place."[24]
"
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C4%ABrya
"
Vīrya literally means "state of a strong human" or "manliness."[1] In Vedic literature, the term is associated with heroism and virility.
In Buddhism, virya refers to a practitioner's "energy",[2][3][4] "persistence",[4][5] "persevering,"[6] "vigour", "effort", "diligence",[7][8] or "exertion", and is repeatedly identified as a necessary prerequisite for achieving liberation.
"
"
The Abhidharma-samuccaya states:
What is virya? It is the mind intent on being ever active, devoted, unshaken, not turning back and being indefatigable. It perfects and realizes what is conducive to the positive.[7]
In the context of the Mahayana Abhidharma, virya is commonly translated as diligence.[7]
"
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisu
"
Sisu is a Finnish word variously translated as stoic determination, tenacity of purpose, grit, bravery, resilience,[1] and hardiness.[2] It is held by Finns to express their national character. It is generally considered[by whom?] not to have a single-word literal equivalent in English (tenacity, grit, resilience, and hardiness are much the same things, but do not necessarily imply stoicism or bravery).
In recent years, sociologists and psychologists have conducted research on sisu, attempting to quantify it and identify its effects, beneficial and harmful, in both individuals and populations.[3]
"
"
Sisu is extraordinary determination in the face of extreme adversity, and courage that is presented typically in situations where success is unlikely. It expresses itself in taking action against the odds, and displaying courage and resoluteness in the face of adversity; in other words, deciding on a course of action, and then adhering to it even if repeated failures ensue. It is in some ways similar to equanimity, though sisu entails an element of stress management.
The English "gutsy" invokes a similar metaphor (one also found in other languages): the Finnish usage derives from sisus, translated as "interior", and as "entrails" or "guts". See also the colloquial phrase "intestinal fortitude". Another closely related English concept evokes the metaphor grit.
"
"
Sisu is a term which dates back hundreds of years. It is described as being integral to understanding Finnish culture.[4] It is a term for going beyond one's mental or physical capacity, and is a central part of the country's culture and collective discourse. However, hardly any empirical research has been done to explore the meaning of this construct as a possible psychological strength resource, and it has long seemed[to whom?] to have a somewhat elusive nature. It has usually been studied as a cultural component among Finns and Finnish Americans,[5][6] but as a psychological construct long remained under-researched and poorly defined.
As early as the 1940s, attempts were made to grasp the essence of sisu. The Finnish newspaper Uusi Suomi[7][full citation needed] reached out to its audience for their definition of sisu, and conducted a contest. Uusi-Suomi wrote: "All of us somewhat know what sisu is... [it] has for long been a topic for discussion here in Finland and abroad. But how do we describe and define what sisu really is?" The quest to define the essence of sisu has evidently been around for almost a century. More recently, William R. Aho, professor emeritus of sociology at Rhodes College, said "we need a good deal of organized, systematic scientific research to discover the scope and depth of sisu, geographically and situationally, and the depth and strength of both the beliefs and behaviors surrounding and emanating from sisu."[5]
Research that began in 2013 sought to offer more precise language for discussing the term. While examining sisu within the psychological framework, it sought to render it less elusive as a construct by giving it an easily citable definition rooted within the field of positive psychology. Sisu as a psychological power potential was introduced for the first time at the 3rd World Congress on Positive Psychology in Los Angeles on 29 June 2013.[8] In the study, sisu is described as a psychological key competence which enables extraordinary action to overcome a mentally or physically challenging situation. Sisu also contributes to what has been named the action mindset: a consistent, courageous approach toward challenges which at first seem to exceed our capacities.[9] Sisu, as measured by the Sisu Scale questionnaire, has been established in contemporary psychological research as a strong correlate with well-being and stress. The Sisu Scale is composed of harmful and beneficial sisu. [10]
A related online survey conducted between March and May 2013 tracked the cultural representations of sisu among contemporary Finns and Finnish Americans.[11] It revealed that sisu is still deeply valued, and that there is public interest for cultivating this strength capacity as well. The study received over 1,000 responses; its data was the basis for thematic analysis. Among the main findings was the perception of sisu as a reserve of power which enables extraordinary action to overcome mentally or physically challenging situations, rather than being the ability to pursue long-term goals and be persistent.
Sisu is a psychological potential that enables the individual to tap into strength beyond their pre-conceived resources. Wielding sisu in the face of adversity helps individuals push through what first seemed like the boundaries of their mental or physical capacities. Sisu provides the final empowering push when we would otherwise hesitate to act. Sisu can be conceptualized as taking action against the odds. Even though 53% of the respondents believed some people innately have more sisu, 83% of the respondents believed that sisu is a flexible quality that can be cultivated through conscious practice, rather than being a fixed quality, and the majority of respondents were interested in developing this capacity. Research on sisu is currently[may be outdated as of August 2023] continuing at Aalto University School of Science in Espoo, Finland.[12]
Sisu is not always an entirely positive quality. In Finnish, pahansisuinen, literally translated, means one possessing bad sisu, a description of a hostile and malignant person. The answers from the sisu survey indicate that there can be too much sisu, and according to the survey answers this leads to bull-headedness, foolhardiness, self-centeredness, and inflexible thinking. The study suggests that sisu should be informed by reason and cultivated and practiced with self-compassion.[9]
Like any trait or psychological capacity, sisu is the complex product of genetic, psychological, biological, and social factors, and its comprehensive understanding will require studies from multiple scientific perspectives. Finland may have the initial monopoly on sisu as a cultural construct, but it is a universal capacity and the potential for it exists within all individuals.
The transformative power of narrative is widely acknowledged.[13][page needed] People develop their values and contribute to cultural values by communicating with other people in their culture.[14] Fostering sisu may very well be embedded in such behavior, rather than being a genetic trait one is born with. Sisu is a new term in the field of positive psychology, and it may contribute to our understanding of the determinants of resilience, as well as of achievement and the good life. It is suggested[by whom?] that positive psychology research could benefit from focusing on sisu and by examining relevant constructs from other cultures.
"
"
Sisu has been described as "the word that explains Finland", and the Finns' "favorite word"—"the most wonderful of all their words."[15] As defined by Roman Schatz in his book From Finland with Love (2005), sisu is an ability to finish a task successfully. During the Winter War of 1939–1940, the Finnish perseverance in the face of the invasion by the Soviet Union popularized this word in English for a generation.[16][17] In what may have been the first use of sisu in the English language, on 8 January 1940, Time magazine reported:
The Finns have something they call sisu. It is a compound of bravado and bravery, of ferocity and tenacity, of the ability to keep fighting after most people would have quit, and to fight with the will to win. The Finns translate sisu as "the Finnish spirit" but it is a much more gutful word than that. Last week the Finns gave the world a good example of sisu by carrying the war into Russian territory on one front while on another they withstood merciless attacks by a reinforced Russian Army. In the wilderness that forms most of the Russo-Finnish frontier between Lake Laatokka and the Arctic Ocean, the Finns definitely gained the upper hand.
— Time magazine, January 8, 1940[16]
In 2009, sisu was described as so essential to the Finnish national character that "to be a real Finn" you must have it: "willpower, tenacity, persistency."[18]
Examples
edit
Singled out for kudos for this attribute was "Finland's wiry old peasant President, Kyösti Kallio—full of sisu..."[17] The word was also used to describe the Finnish stubbornness in sticking to its loose alliance with The Third Reich from 1941 to 1944 (in the war against the Soviet Union, which had attacked Finland on 30 November 1939):
Finnish sisu—meaning a peculiarly Finnish brand of doggedness, capable of facing down death itself—was at work against the Allies.... The Finns are not happy. But sisu enables them to say: "We have nothing worse than death to fear."
— Time magazine, May 10, 1943.[19]
During the 1952 Summer Olympics, sisu was further described in the context of the continuing Cold War looming over the Finnish capital city of Helsinki:
HELSINKI, host to the Olympic Games, a city of 400,000, was abustle. ... The Finns are not stupidly hiding their eyes from their future, but they are determined not to fall into another fight with a powerful and predatory next-door neighbor 66 times their size (in area, Finland is the sixth largest country in Europe; in population it is the third smallest). Under popular, 81-year-old President Juho Kusti Paasikivi and able, unpopular Agrarian Premier Urho Kekkonen, the Finns have learned to walk the nerve-racking path of independence like tight-rope walkers.
— Time magazine, July 21, 1952[20]
Well into the 1960s, sisu was used to describe the Finnish resistance to the invasion of 20 to 30 years prior and its continuing discontents.[21] In 1960, Austin Goodrich's book, Study in Sisu: Finland's Fight for Independence, was published by Ballantine.[22] Also in 1960, a notable reviewer of Griffin Taylor's novel, Mortlake, wrote:
"Have you heard of Finnish sisu?" asks a character in "Mortlake"—and it turns out that sisu is a sort of stamina or staying-power which the Finns have had to develop as a result of living next door to the Russians.
— Nigel Dennis, New York Times Book Review[23]
In 2004, Jorma Ollila, CEO of Nokia, described his company's "guts" by using the word sisu:
In times like these, the executives who run Nokia talk up a uniquely Finnish quality called sisu. "The translation would be 'guts,'" says Jorma Ollila, CEO of Nokia, in an interview. (Photograph Caption: Jorma Ollila says Nokia is determined to 'overcome all obstacles.') "But it's also endurance. There is a long-term element to it. You overcome all obstacles. You need quite a lot of sisu to survive in this climate." The climate he's referring to is the bleak and bitter Nordic winters, but he might as well be talking about the competitive, erratic wireless-phone market and Nokia's travails. This sisu trait—anathema to Wall Street's short-term outlook—says a lot about Nokia's response to its recent turmoil.
— Kevin Maney[24]
A Finnish heavy metal rock singer injured himself, without noticing, at a concert, to which a reviewer wrote:
Alan epäillä, että suomalainen sisu ja adrenaliini ovat yksi ja sama asia.—I am beginning to suspect that the Finnish sisu and adrenaline are the same thing.
— ImperiumI.net Finnish Heavy Metal website[25]
The concept is widely known in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, which is home to a large concentration of Finnish Americans. This has extended to include a popular bumper sticker saying "got sisu?" or simply "SISU". In 2010, a 63-year-old Yooper named Joe Paquette Jr. of Munising, Michigan, walked 425 miles to the Detroit Lions training facility to bring the spirit of sisu to the team.[26]
The non-profit documentary SISU: Family, Love and Perseverance from Finland to America was made by Finnish-American filmmaker Marko Albrecht. The documentary looks at sisu by means of a profile of his late mother, his Finnish-American family, and his uncle Heikki's fight against pancreatic cancer. The film was called a time-capsule of modern Finnish-American life.[27]
In a 2008 episode of Top Gear, F1 racer Mika Häkkinen described sisu to James May:
Sisu in English means courage, it is the Finnish courage. Let me give you an example. Climbing a tree and jumping down from there, that doesn't mean sisu. That is not courage. Sisu we can relate very much that in motor racing, for example, you're driving a rally car in a forest extremely, really fast, you need courage to be able to brake late, to go on the throttle really early, to go really close to the apex of the corners.[28]
The platinum trophy of the Finnish-made video game Alan Wake 2, given to players who earn every other trophy in the game, is called Sisu.
As a proper name
edit
Due to its cultural significance, sisu is a common element of brand names in Finland. For example, there are Sisu trucks (and Sisu armored vehicles), the icebreaker MS Sisu, a brand of strong-tasting pastilles manufactured by Leaf[29] and Suomen Sisu, a Finnish nationalist organisation with connections to other far-right groups.
Sisu is also a male name with increasing popularity. More than 2,000 Finnish men have this name,[30] most of them being born after 2010. The son of The Dudesons's Jukka Hilden is called Sisu.
Globally, there were several fitness-related organizations and endurance sports teams such as the Sisu Project based in Haverhill and Worcester, Massachusetts, U.S.A.[31] that carried the name sisu and based their philosophy on the characteristics included in the concept sisu, including courage, integrity, honesty, and determination.
Mount Sisu is the name of a mountain first ascended by mountain climbers Veikka Gustafsson and Patrick Degerman in the Antarctic.
Sisu is also the name of a London-based hedge-fund, operated by several directors including Joy Seppala. The firm bought the football club Coventry City FC in 2007.
In Norway there is a seafood company named Sisu Seafood Norway AS that exports Norwegian seafoods.
On the Western end of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, the SISU Ski Fest is a popular annual event, highlighting a 21- and 42-kilometer cross-country ski race "finishing" in historic downtown Ironwood.[32]
In popular culture
edit
"Monument to the Finnish sisu" on a fell in Lapland
In season two of McLaren's animated program Tooned, Sisu is a planet and the true origin of two-time Formula One Drivers' Champion Mika Häkkinen (and possibly 2007 Drivers' Champion Kimi Räikkönen as well, based on a Sisu scene near the end of the episode in question). Häkkinen and Räikkönen are both Finnish and have driven for McLaren; Häkkinen won both of his titles with the team while Räikkönen won his after leaving McLaren for Ferrari.
A starship with a crew of partly Finnish descent in Robert A. Heinlein's 1957 science fiction novel Citizen of the Galaxy is named Sisu.[33]
A World War II movie titled Sisu, directed by Jalmari Helander and starring Jorma Tommila, was released in April 2023.[34]
"
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganbaru
https://youtu.be/KO6gxCl8qC0?feature=shared
I have never seen it. It appears to be popular. It has a lot of merchandise already which sells out. It introduces people to "Goetic Demons" and uses them, making the names of such more mainstream than ever before in the United States. Before this, the most mainstream mentions of them were still rather fringe, as they appeared in Japanese video games like Shin Megami Tensei and Devil May Cry, with the latter being more mainstream and popularly played in the United States, but not as much with the Goetic Demon Names as much as with the more well established names overall.
Much more popular than Goetic Demon Names are the names of demons which are also much more well known from being outside of the Goetic Names, and in the United States and worldwide, the most access to the names in popular culture were games in the Diablo series by Blizzard Entertainment most likely, and just general Christian culture and evangelism that focuses on some of these names.
The most popular and well known is Satan, generally synonymous with "The Devil", which is the namesake of the game series "Diablo" and brings up a title or term closely identified with all the others and the concept of a fiery Hell, Darkness, Death, Torture, and the Occult. Those things seem to indicated symbolically on the cover art, which may be more witnessed thsn actual gameplay which will have a drastic drop from all those who merely hear of it somehow, then those who see more like the cover art, and it keeps getting into a smaller population from there.
Another extremely popular, but far less popular than the international term "Satan" and the overall concept of "The Devil" and "Demons" and "Angels" is Beelzebub, sometimes also called Beezlebub.
This show though that the video is bringing up, brings up and highlights far more obscure and less known names, like "Stolas".
People in the comments are bringing up modern obsessions like "intimate partner abuse" frequently, and the show might deal with various social dynamics, coupled with music, and has attracted many females and the "LGBTQ+" community to it, by also apparently having stuff which is of interest to them like less common or strict rules having to do with sexuality, identity, and relationship boundaries between different categories of people, and some more gender bent ways of dressing and acting.
This is a hugely popular show presented on YouTube.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivienne_Medrano
She has a birthdate very close to mine, but a different year.
"
She is bisexual,[44] and on the asexual spectrum.[45] She grew up Presbyterian, and says she remembers going to church and questioning a lot of stories in the Bible—Adam and Eve and Lucifer, in particular.[46]
"
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asexuality
I'm heterosexual and really like the appearance of women, but don't get any action, a much more literal involuntary celibate than the ones who get called that who seem to be socially inept, misogynistic, and self-sabotaging.
"
In a January 2024 interview following the release of Hazbin Hotel on Amazon Prime Video, she described herself as a "queer woman on the internet who made something popular", and related herself to her character Charlie Morningstar, saying that both she and Charlie are in a "position of fighting uphill battles to just have [their] dreams exist."[47] Previously, Medrano had described herself, on social media, as a "proud 'fiery' [L]atina," and said that Vaggie was the character she related to most, saying that Vaggie and Charlie "feel like sides of [her]self."[48]
"
Ethnic and Racial stereotypes bother me and make me sad.
I was looking at some descriptions on old cards from a Dungeons and Dragons Adjacent game series, and they were describing these "Jaguar Warrior" humans who are very directly inspired by Aztec things, in such a sad way, because it was so childish and limited, like they were not allowed to be as complex or unique and individualistic as the characters who were more Western inspired, even if that individuality comes through the form of villainy, though they would generally be villains in some way too as they are dedicated to a God in the game world that is associated with evil and evil things, Zaltec, in perhaps and attempt to treat their characters with Western "respect", they made them Noble Savages and "Braves", and one could almost hallucinate the "Tonto-esque" way that they were most likely being thought of. The drawings of their faces, and there were two character cards at least that I have seen of these, are both totally without personality or uniqueness, while the Western seeming character is full of character and uniqueness.
So when this woman, in my opinion "caves" to the stereotypes of being a "fiery Latina", I feel sick to my stomach. I despise that stuff. It is that stuff that is currently behind so much evil that is occurring right now, like the stereotyping and imposing of stereotypes that the J people are doing to the P people, and how the J book has basically always implied things like that, possibly more overtly or in a now more popular fashion than any other text due to it being so widespread now, like their prejudices towards various groups that were viewed as automatically an enemy or "bad" category, ignoring how vile they would appear to be as a whole if they were viewed and treated in the same way as they view and treat "others", but we are meant to not hold them to the same standards, in which case their villainy recorded in their own telling of their supposed history, hopefully largely fabricated, reveals that they were for the most part very similar seeming to the mostly European and Caucasian variants that exist today in their horrible thinking that lead to horrible ways of dealing with all the "out groups" and really even "their own".
Supposedly, these Goetic Names derive from traditions that are J*d**-Christian in nature, though the names at times may connect to other cultures and languages where they were used before J*d**-Christian influence, and were thought of in different ways.
They are categorized now as "demons", which for many makes them "automatically bad", like how "Canaanite" and now "Palestinian" is meant to mean "automatically bad", no matter what their age, ancient or infant.
Hispanic people, a people under the influence of a "Latin", "Romance" culture, the heirs of Latin like the Italians and with a more clearly Vulgar Latin seeming language than the French most likely or even the Portuguese, many of which also descend from a colonized people, with layers of colonial history and tension, since the people of Iberia were colonized by Rome, they were colonized by Christianity, by Germans, by Arian Christian Kingdoms possibly, by Muslims, then they performed the ReConquista and ended up imposing Northern groups upon Southern groups that had little real historical unity or connection with the Northern Groups, and their languages were pushed further away in favor of the Northern "Standards". It didn't end there, then they went and they terrorized people through the Inquisition, and terrorized the Catalans, the Basque, and many more tribes and families, and had the Spanish Inquisition, they imposed themselves on the Americas and brought ruin there and tried to wipe out those cultures and people too, they became like a killer virus.
Now the people throughout the Spanish world have this confused rage and hatred in themselves that is carried through their language and history, where alien things were repeatedly imposed upon them and then pushed forcefully on to others, a culture of bullying and abuse which had led to a lot of machismo complexes, chauvinism, colorism, unspoken but still very active and real casteism and classism, and a deep desire to lash out and rebel while also wanting and even loving authoritarianism on the other hand. They have a very strong attraction to the Satanic and Demonic, and to be Contrary but not necessarily "Counter-Culture" in the same way as others.
All that sh"t, and it is truly sh*t, stinking sh*t, seems to make its way into this cartoon made by this "fiery Latina" "bisexual asexual", lol, all of that nonsense gibberish seeming to very specifically give some insight into the batsh*t crazy thinking of the modern Romans of today.
As far as I can tell, very little of the Native mindset may have actually survived in comparison to the things which can be traced to Roman and Hispanic thinking from the Spanish language being used and so the dominant way in which these people even think to themselves, and language matters VERY much, and what is carried in those languages. I speak in my mind some form of "American English" and carry the sentiments and attitudes of an "American", which are totally at odds in many ways to what is being presented by the mainstream media today as the norms of an American or of America, such as through films which possibly the vast majority are finding in at least some ways unpleasant and objectionable and not representing their standards or ideals or even their true culture, as if it was written by alien groups, and it often really is being written by people with little to no experience with the mainstream culture of the North American people, but by a tiny minority with different cultures, evrn if they are "caucasian" or "English" in their ancestry, they have never lived like we have, or been given the thinking through the language and history that we have, yet they are made out to be the writers of a culture they try to make the norm, and people are finding that it is really not mixing and meshing comfortably with the ways in which they were raised or the prior culture that they were indoctrinated with. This is causing "Western" people in general to seek out groups that they can better identify with or tools and "technologies" they feel are such that they can use more freely to express their sentiments through, so Islam and Satanism, both considered the Arch Heresies of the Latinate and Western World, are what so many are flocking to throughout the West, since both represent the Rebellion Against Oppression and the Authoritarian Justice we had been raised to consider the "American Way", where Christianity appears instead to be slavish and effeminate, not suitable to the Virile Modern Roman, still full of "Fire":
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtus
"
The origins of the word virtus can be traced back to the Latin word vir, 'man'. The common list of attributes associated with virtus were considered to be particularly masculine strengths. From the early to the later days of the Roman Empire, there appears to have been a development in how the concept was understood.
Originally virtus described specifically martial courage, but it eventually grew to be used to describe a range of Roman virtues. It was often divided into different qualities including prudentia (practical wisdom), iustitia (justice), temperantia (temperance, self-control), and fortitudo (courage). This division of virtue as a whole into cardinal virtues is an ongoing project of positive psychology or, in philosophy, virtue ethics, following a tradition originating in Plato's Republic and Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics. It implies a link between virtus and the Greek concept of arete.
At one time virtus extended to include a wide range of meanings that covered one general ethical ideal.[1] The use of the word grew and shifted to fit evolving ideas of what manliness meant.[2] Once, virtus meant primarily that a man was a brave warrior, but it came also to mean that he was a good man, someone who did the right thing. During the time of the decline of the Roman elite, the Roman upper class no longer thought of themselves as unmanly if they did not serve in the military.[3]
"
"
Virtus came from an aristocratic tradition in which it described a specific type of public conduct. It was mainly applicable to those in the cursus honorum, certainly by the late republic at least. It was not a "private" virtue in the way that modern people might consider it. Valor, courage, and manliness were not things to be pursued in the private sphere of the individual or the individual's private concerns. There could be no virtue in exploiting one's manliness in the pursuit of personal wealth, for example. Virtus was exercised in the pursuit of gloria for the benefit of the res publica resulting in the winning of eternal memoria. According to D.C. Earl, "Outside the service of the res publica there can be no magistratus and therefore, strictly speaking, no gloria, no nobilitas, no virtus."[4]
The nobility of virtus lay not only in one's personal acta but also those of one's ancestors. However Cicero, a novus homo, asserted that virtus was a virtue particularly suited to the new man just as nobilitas was suited to the noble. Cicero argued that just as young men from noble families won the favor of the people so too should the novus homo earn the favor of the people with his virtus. He asserted that virtus, and not one's family history, should decide a man's worthiness. Because virtus is something that a man earns himself, not something that is given to him by his family, it is a better measure of a man's ability. Cicero's goal was not to impugn the noble class but widen it to include men who had earned their positions by merit.[5]
The term virtus was used quite significantly by the historian Sallust, a contemporary of Cicero. Sallust asserted that virtus did not rightfully belong to the nobilitas as a result of their family background but specifically to the novus homo through the exercise of ingenium (talent, also means sharpness of mind, sagacity, foresight, and character). For Sallust and Cicero alike, virtus comes from winning glory through illustrious deeds (egregia facinora) and the observance of right conduct through bonae artes.[6]
"
"
Virtus was not universally applicable—typically only adult male Roman citizens could be thought of as possessing virtus.
Women
edit
Virtus was rarely attributed to women, probably because of its association with vir. The highest regarded female virtue was pudicitia: 'modesty' or 'chastity'. Cicero, however, attributes virtus to women several times. He uses it once to describe Caecilia Metella when she helps a man who is being chased by assassins.[Note 1] Twice more he uses it when describing his daughter, Tullia, portraying her in his letters as brave in his absence.[10] He uses it again to describe his first wife Terentia during his exile.[11] Livy in Book 2 attributes it to Cloelia.[12]
Children
edit
Virtus was not a term commonly used to describe children. Since virtus was primarily attributed to a full-grown man who had served in the military, children were not particularly suited to obtain this particular virtue.
Slaves
edit
While a slave was able to be homo ('man') he was not considered a vir. Slaves were often referred to as puer (Latin for 'boy') to denote that they were not citizens.[13] Since a slave could not be a vir it follows that they could not have the quality of virtus. Once a slave was manumitted, he was able to become a vir and also classified as a freedman, but this did not allow him to have virtus. A good slave or freedman was said to have fides, but no virtus.[13]
Foreigners
edit
Foreigners in the Roman world could be attributed with virtus, for example, if they fought bravely. Virtus could also be lost in battle. Virtus could even be a qualification for citizenship, as in the case of Spanish cavalry men granted citizenship by Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo in 89 BCE for their virtus in battle.[14]
"
"
Virtus applies exclusively to a man's behaviour in the public sphere; that is, to the application of duty to the res publica in the cursus honorum. His private business was no place to earn virtus, even when it involved courage, feats of arms, or other associated qualities performed for the public good.
In private
edit
While in many cultures it is considered "manly" to father and provide for a family, family life was considered in the Roman world to be part of the private sphere, in which there was no place for virtus. Most uses of virtus to describe any part of private life are ambiguous and refer to another similar quality.[15] In the Roman world the oldest living patriarch of the family was called the pater familias. This title implied that he could make all legal and binding decisions for the family; he also owned all its money, land, and other property. His wife, daughters, sons, and his sons' families were all under his potestas. The only time a son was seen as separate from his father's control in the eyes of other Romans was when he assumed his public identity as a citizen. He could earn his virtus by serving in the military, and thus he could only demonstrate manliness outside of the family setting. This is another reason that virtus is not often used to describe Roman private life.[16]
In public
edit
Virtus was a crucial component for a political career. Its broad definition led to it being used to describe a number of qualities that the Roman people idealized in their leaders.
In everyday life a typical Roman, especially a young boy, would have been inculcated with the idea of virtus. Since military service was a part of the lives of most Roman men, military training would have started fairly early. Young boys would have learned how to wield weapons and military tactics starting at home with their fathers and older male relatives and later in school. Also a young boy would have heard numerous stories about past heroes, battles, and wars. Some of these stories would have told of the virtus of past heroes, and even family members. Publicly it was easy to see the rewards of virtus. Public triumphs were held for victorious generals and rewards were given to brave fighters. This propaganda encouraged young boys coming into their manhood to be brave fighters and earn virtus. It was the duty of every generation of men to maintain the dignitas which his family had already earned and to enlarge it. Pressure to live up to the standards of one's ancestors was great. In achieving virtus one could also achieve gloria. By gaining virtus and gloria one could hope to aspire to high political office and great renown.
Cicero suggested that virtus was real manhood and that it boiled down to "Ever to excel". He declared that, "The whole glory of virtue [virtus] resides in activity." A Roman political man would only need to show scars in defense of the Republic to prove his worth.
Romans established their status through activity, creating a pecking order of honour. This involved agon—a test, trial, or ordeal requiring active effort to overcome. This activity was thought to banish certain characteristics of Roman thought that were believed to be negative. Such negative characteristics included being shameless, inactive, isolated, or leisurely and were the absence of virtus; placing dignitas into a static, frozen state. The contest established one's being and constructed the reality of one's virtus. Romans were willing to suffer shame, humiliation, victory, defeat, glory, destruction, success, and failure in pursuit of this.
Virtus was often associated with being aggressive[citation needed] and this could be dangerous in the public sphere and the political world. Displays of violent virtus were controlled through several methods. Men seeking to hold political office typically had to follow the cursus honorum. Many political offices had an age minimum which ensured that the men filling the positions had the proper amount of experience in the military and in government. Thus, even if a man proved himself capable of filling a position or was able to persuade people that he was capable, he would not necessarily be able to hold the position until he had reached a certain age. Minimum age also ensured an equal basis for candidates in elections for public offices, because by the time most men went into public office they would have retired from military service. Furthermore, before any Roman soldier could partake in single combat, he had to gain permission from his general. This was meant to keep soldiers from putting themselves in unnecessary danger in order to gain virtus.
Politically, virtus also tended to be a concept of morality. In contrast to its representation of manliness—as seen in aggression and the ruthless acquisition of money, land, and power—the lighter, more idealistic political meaning almost took on the extended meaning of pietas, as a man who was morally upright and concerned with the matters of the state.[17]
Plautus in Amphitruo contrasted virtus and ambitio. Virtus is seen as a positive attribute, while though ambitio itself is not necessarily a negative attribute it is often associated with negative methods such as bribery. Plautus said that just as great generals and armies win victory by virtus, so should political candidates. Ambitio "is the wrong method of reaching a good end". Part of virtus, in the political sphere, was to deal justly in every aspect of one's life, especially in political and state matters.[18]
According to Brett and Kate McKay, the Roman identity exists in a paradigm[clarification needed]; Rome was a contest culture and honor culture. Romans believed "your identity was neither fixed nor permanent, your worth was a moving target, and you had to always be actively engaged in proving yourself."[19]
Sexuality
edit
While in many cultures the virtue of manliness is seen as being partly sexual,[citation needed] in the Roman world the word virtus did not necessitate sexuality. Similar words deriving from the same stem often have sexual connotations, such as the word for man itself (vir) and the concept of "virility" (virilitas).[20] Nonetheless, poems such as Catullus 16 and the Carmina Priapea,[21] as well as speeches such as Cicero's In Verrem, demonstrate that manliness and pudicitia, or sexual propriety, were linked.[22]
Marcellus and the Temple
edit
M. Claudius Marcellus, during the battle of Clastidium in 222 BCE, dedicated a temple to Honos and Virtus. This was one of the first times that Virtus had been recognized as divine. The connection with Honos would have been obvious to most Romans, as demonstrations of virtus led to election to public office, and both were considered honos. The cult of Honos was already a long-standing tradition in Rome. The marriage of the two deities ensured that Virtus would also get proper respect from the Romans. But the pontiffs objected that one temple could not properly house two gods because there would be no way of knowing to which god to sacrifice should a miracle happen in the temple.[citation needed]
Augustus
edit
During the reign of Augustus, the Senate voted that a golden shield be inscribed with Augustus' attributes and displayed in the Curia Iulia, these virtues including virtus, clementia, iustitia, and pietas. These political catchwords continued to be used as propaganda by later emperors.
In literature
edit
The comic poet Plautus made use of virtus in his play Trinummus, which concerned family virtus, honor, public office, and obligations to the state. He also offered commentary on the concept of virtus in Amphitruo (see § In public above).[23]
Cicero said, "[only] virtus usually wards off a cruel and dishonorable death, and virtus is the badge of the Roman race and breed. Cling fast to [virtus], I beg you men of Rome, as a heritage that your ancestors bequeathed to you. All else is false and doubtful, ephemeral and changeful: only virtus stands firmly fixed, its roots run deep, it can never be shaken by any violence, never moved from its place."[24]
"
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C4%ABrya
"
Vīrya literally means "state of a strong human" or "manliness."[1] In Vedic literature, the term is associated with heroism and virility.
In Buddhism, virya refers to a practitioner's "energy",[2][3][4] "persistence",[4][5] "persevering,"[6] "vigour", "effort", "diligence",[7][8] or "exertion", and is repeatedly identified as a necessary prerequisite for achieving liberation.
"
"
The Abhidharma-samuccaya states:
What is virya? It is the mind intent on being ever active, devoted, unshaken, not turning back and being indefatigable. It perfects and realizes what is conducive to the positive.[7]
In the context of the Mahayana Abhidharma, virya is commonly translated as diligence.[7]
"
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisu
"
Sisu is a Finnish word variously translated as stoic determination, tenacity of purpose, grit, bravery, resilience,[1] and hardiness.[2] It is held by Finns to express their national character. It is generally considered[by whom?] not to have a single-word literal equivalent in English (tenacity, grit, resilience, and hardiness are much the same things, but do not necessarily imply stoicism or bravery).
In recent years, sociologists and psychologists have conducted research on sisu, attempting to quantify it and identify its effects, beneficial and harmful, in both individuals and populations.[3]
"
"
Sisu is extraordinary determination in the face of extreme adversity, and courage that is presented typically in situations where success is unlikely. It expresses itself in taking action against the odds, and displaying courage and resoluteness in the face of adversity; in other words, deciding on a course of action, and then adhering to it even if repeated failures ensue. It is in some ways similar to equanimity, though sisu entails an element of stress management.
The English "gutsy" invokes a similar metaphor (one also found in other languages): the Finnish usage derives from sisus, translated as "interior", and as "entrails" or "guts". See also the colloquial phrase "intestinal fortitude". Another closely related English concept evokes the metaphor grit.
"
"
Sisu is a term which dates back hundreds of years. It is described as being integral to understanding Finnish culture.[4] It is a term for going beyond one's mental or physical capacity, and is a central part of the country's culture and collective discourse. However, hardly any empirical research has been done to explore the meaning of this construct as a possible psychological strength resource, and it has long seemed[to whom?] to have a somewhat elusive nature. It has usually been studied as a cultural component among Finns and Finnish Americans,[5][6] but as a psychological construct long remained under-researched and poorly defined.
As early as the 1940s, attempts were made to grasp the essence of sisu. The Finnish newspaper Uusi Suomi[7][full citation needed] reached out to its audience for their definition of sisu, and conducted a contest. Uusi-Suomi wrote: "All of us somewhat know what sisu is... [it] has for long been a topic for discussion here in Finland and abroad. But how do we describe and define what sisu really is?" The quest to define the essence of sisu has evidently been around for almost a century. More recently, William R. Aho, professor emeritus of sociology at Rhodes College, said "we need a good deal of organized, systematic scientific research to discover the scope and depth of sisu, geographically and situationally, and the depth and strength of both the beliefs and behaviors surrounding and emanating from sisu."[5]
Research that began in 2013 sought to offer more precise language for discussing the term. While examining sisu within the psychological framework, it sought to render it less elusive as a construct by giving it an easily citable definition rooted within the field of positive psychology. Sisu as a psychological power potential was introduced for the first time at the 3rd World Congress on Positive Psychology in Los Angeles on 29 June 2013.[8] In the study, sisu is described as a psychological key competence which enables extraordinary action to overcome a mentally or physically challenging situation. Sisu also contributes to what has been named the action mindset: a consistent, courageous approach toward challenges which at first seem to exceed our capacities.[9] Sisu, as measured by the Sisu Scale questionnaire, has been established in contemporary psychological research as a strong correlate with well-being and stress. The Sisu Scale is composed of harmful and beneficial sisu. [10]
A related online survey conducted between March and May 2013 tracked the cultural representations of sisu among contemporary Finns and Finnish Americans.[11] It revealed that sisu is still deeply valued, and that there is public interest for cultivating this strength capacity as well. The study received over 1,000 responses; its data was the basis for thematic analysis. Among the main findings was the perception of sisu as a reserve of power which enables extraordinary action to overcome mentally or physically challenging situations, rather than being the ability to pursue long-term goals and be persistent.
Sisu is a psychological potential that enables the individual to tap into strength beyond their pre-conceived resources. Wielding sisu in the face of adversity helps individuals push through what first seemed like the boundaries of their mental or physical capacities. Sisu provides the final empowering push when we would otherwise hesitate to act. Sisu can be conceptualized as taking action against the odds. Even though 53% of the respondents believed some people innately have more sisu, 83% of the respondents believed that sisu is a flexible quality that can be cultivated through conscious practice, rather than being a fixed quality, and the majority of respondents were interested in developing this capacity. Research on sisu is currently[may be outdated as of August 2023] continuing at Aalto University School of Science in Espoo, Finland.[12]
Sisu is not always an entirely positive quality. In Finnish, pahansisuinen, literally translated, means one possessing bad sisu, a description of a hostile and malignant person. The answers from the sisu survey indicate that there can be too much sisu, and according to the survey answers this leads to bull-headedness, foolhardiness, self-centeredness, and inflexible thinking. The study suggests that sisu should be informed by reason and cultivated and practiced with self-compassion.[9]
Like any trait or psychological capacity, sisu is the complex product of genetic, psychological, biological, and social factors, and its comprehensive understanding will require studies from multiple scientific perspectives. Finland may have the initial monopoly on sisu as a cultural construct, but it is a universal capacity and the potential for it exists within all individuals.
The transformative power of narrative is widely acknowledged.[13][page needed] People develop their values and contribute to cultural values by communicating with other people in their culture.[14] Fostering sisu may very well be embedded in such behavior, rather than being a genetic trait one is born with. Sisu is a new term in the field of positive psychology, and it may contribute to our understanding of the determinants of resilience, as well as of achievement and the good life. It is suggested[by whom?] that positive psychology research could benefit from focusing on sisu and by examining relevant constructs from other cultures.
"
"
Sisu has been described as "the word that explains Finland", and the Finns' "favorite word"—"the most wonderful of all their words."[15] As defined by Roman Schatz in his book From Finland with Love (2005), sisu is an ability to finish a task successfully. During the Winter War of 1939–1940, the Finnish perseverance in the face of the invasion by the Soviet Union popularized this word in English for a generation.[16][17] In what may have been the first use of sisu in the English language, on 8 January 1940, Time magazine reported:
The Finns have something they call sisu. It is a compound of bravado and bravery, of ferocity and tenacity, of the ability to keep fighting after most people would have quit, and to fight with the will to win. The Finns translate sisu as "the Finnish spirit" but it is a much more gutful word than that. Last week the Finns gave the world a good example of sisu by carrying the war into Russian territory on one front while on another they withstood merciless attacks by a reinforced Russian Army. In the wilderness that forms most of the Russo-Finnish frontier between Lake Laatokka and the Arctic Ocean, the Finns definitely gained the upper hand.
— Time magazine, January 8, 1940[16]
In 2009, sisu was described as so essential to the Finnish national character that "to be a real Finn" you must have it: "willpower, tenacity, persistency."[18]
Examples
edit
Singled out for kudos for this attribute was "Finland's wiry old peasant President, Kyösti Kallio—full of sisu..."[17] The word was also used to describe the Finnish stubbornness in sticking to its loose alliance with The Third Reich from 1941 to 1944 (in the war against the Soviet Union, which had attacked Finland on 30 November 1939):
Finnish sisu—meaning a peculiarly Finnish brand of doggedness, capable of facing down death itself—was at work against the Allies.... The Finns are not happy. But sisu enables them to say: "We have nothing worse than death to fear."
— Time magazine, May 10, 1943.[19]
During the 1952 Summer Olympics, sisu was further described in the context of the continuing Cold War looming over the Finnish capital city of Helsinki:
HELSINKI, host to the Olympic Games, a city of 400,000, was abustle. ... The Finns are not stupidly hiding their eyes from their future, but they are determined not to fall into another fight with a powerful and predatory next-door neighbor 66 times their size (in area, Finland is the sixth largest country in Europe; in population it is the third smallest). Under popular, 81-year-old President Juho Kusti Paasikivi and able, unpopular Agrarian Premier Urho Kekkonen, the Finns have learned to walk the nerve-racking path of independence like tight-rope walkers.
— Time magazine, July 21, 1952[20]
Well into the 1960s, sisu was used to describe the Finnish resistance to the invasion of 20 to 30 years prior and its continuing discontents.[21] In 1960, Austin Goodrich's book, Study in Sisu: Finland's Fight for Independence, was published by Ballantine.[22] Also in 1960, a notable reviewer of Griffin Taylor's novel, Mortlake, wrote:
"Have you heard of Finnish sisu?" asks a character in "Mortlake"—and it turns out that sisu is a sort of stamina or staying-power which the Finns have had to develop as a result of living next door to the Russians.
— Nigel Dennis, New York Times Book Review[23]
In 2004, Jorma Ollila, CEO of Nokia, described his company's "guts" by using the word sisu:
In times like these, the executives who run Nokia talk up a uniquely Finnish quality called sisu. "The translation would be 'guts,'" says Jorma Ollila, CEO of Nokia, in an interview. (Photograph Caption: Jorma Ollila says Nokia is determined to 'overcome all obstacles.') "But it's also endurance. There is a long-term element to it. You overcome all obstacles. You need quite a lot of sisu to survive in this climate." The climate he's referring to is the bleak and bitter Nordic winters, but he might as well be talking about the competitive, erratic wireless-phone market and Nokia's travails. This sisu trait—anathema to Wall Street's short-term outlook—says a lot about Nokia's response to its recent turmoil.
— Kevin Maney[24]
A Finnish heavy metal rock singer injured himself, without noticing, at a concert, to which a reviewer wrote:
Alan epäillä, että suomalainen sisu ja adrenaliini ovat yksi ja sama asia.—I am beginning to suspect that the Finnish sisu and adrenaline are the same thing.
— ImperiumI.net Finnish Heavy Metal website[25]
The concept is widely known in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, which is home to a large concentration of Finnish Americans. This has extended to include a popular bumper sticker saying "got sisu?" or simply "SISU". In 2010, a 63-year-old Yooper named Joe Paquette Jr. of Munising, Michigan, walked 425 miles to the Detroit Lions training facility to bring the spirit of sisu to the team.[26]
The non-profit documentary SISU: Family, Love and Perseverance from Finland to America was made by Finnish-American filmmaker Marko Albrecht. The documentary looks at sisu by means of a profile of his late mother, his Finnish-American family, and his uncle Heikki's fight against pancreatic cancer. The film was called a time-capsule of modern Finnish-American life.[27]
In a 2008 episode of Top Gear, F1 racer Mika Häkkinen described sisu to James May:
Sisu in English means courage, it is the Finnish courage. Let me give you an example. Climbing a tree and jumping down from there, that doesn't mean sisu. That is not courage. Sisu we can relate very much that in motor racing, for example, you're driving a rally car in a forest extremely, really fast, you need courage to be able to brake late, to go on the throttle really early, to go really close to the apex of the corners.[28]
The platinum trophy of the Finnish-made video game Alan Wake 2, given to players who earn every other trophy in the game, is called Sisu.
As a proper name
edit
Due to its cultural significance, sisu is a common element of brand names in Finland. For example, there are Sisu trucks (and Sisu armored vehicles), the icebreaker MS Sisu, a brand of strong-tasting pastilles manufactured by Leaf[29] and Suomen Sisu, a Finnish nationalist organisation with connections to other far-right groups.
Sisu is also a male name with increasing popularity. More than 2,000 Finnish men have this name,[30] most of them being born after 2010. The son of The Dudesons's Jukka Hilden is called Sisu.
Globally, there were several fitness-related organizations and endurance sports teams such as the Sisu Project based in Haverhill and Worcester, Massachusetts, U.S.A.[31] that carried the name sisu and based their philosophy on the characteristics included in the concept sisu, including courage, integrity, honesty, and determination.
Mount Sisu is the name of a mountain first ascended by mountain climbers Veikka Gustafsson and Patrick Degerman in the Antarctic.
Sisu is also the name of a London-based hedge-fund, operated by several directors including Joy Seppala. The firm bought the football club Coventry City FC in 2007.
In Norway there is a seafood company named Sisu Seafood Norway AS that exports Norwegian seafoods.
On the Western end of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, the SISU Ski Fest is a popular annual event, highlighting a 21- and 42-kilometer cross-country ski race "finishing" in historic downtown Ironwood.[32]
In popular culture
edit
"Monument to the Finnish sisu" on a fell in Lapland
In season two of McLaren's animated program Tooned, Sisu is a planet and the true origin of two-time Formula One Drivers' Champion Mika Häkkinen (and possibly 2007 Drivers' Champion Kimi Räikkönen as well, based on a Sisu scene near the end of the episode in question). Häkkinen and Räikkönen are both Finnish and have driven for McLaren; Häkkinen won both of his titles with the team while Räikkönen won his after leaving McLaren for Ferrari.
A starship with a crew of partly Finnish descent in Robert A. Heinlein's 1957 science fiction novel Citizen of the Galaxy is named Sisu.[33]
A World War II movie titled Sisu, directed by Jalmari Helander and starring Jorma Tommila, was released in April 2023.[34]
"
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganbaru
