Tag: Newcastle

• The Danger of the Mob: Lessons from Peer Pressure, Chaos, and Human Nature

  Have you ever been in a group where you’ve done or seen something you would have never expected?

  Many of my worst moments occurred when I got caught up in the group’s madness.

  My first time drunk

  I was at a friend’s house with two other close friends at the time (around 11 years ago, when I was 16).

  My friends were a couple of years older than I, and we had a free house for the night as my friends’ parents were away.

  My friend invited a group of people to the house

  I didn’t know these people very well, but they were my friends’ friends, and they brought a large bottle of Smirnoff vodka with them.

  Everyone had a shot of vodka, and then all of a sudden, my friend and I just kept on being given shots of it (there was peer pressure, and everyone was encouraging us to continue drinking these shots).

  After a few shots, I blacked out.

  The next thing I remember, I was vomiting in my parents’ house ( apparently, I fell over as well).

  I was in an awful state, and from what I can remember, the paramedics were called to come and see me.

  The madness of the group came above the health of its members

  And from that point on, I knew of the madness of the group. I never made the same mistake again.

  It was a learning curve to realise that people you would call friends may not always have your best interests at heart when caught up in the emotions of the group.

  The madness of the gladiatorial games

  

  I visited Rome in April and went to the Colosseum, where I learned about what really happened there.

  Romans executed Christian martyrs, sent gladiators to their deaths, and slaughtered thousands of animals to thrill the mob.

  Human nature is full of evil and vice; that’s why we must work towards virtue, as the Stoics and Christians have done. When we’re in a group, this evil and vice can compound if we don’t discipline our character

  We have two choices :

  1. Hang around with the timid masses who never know victory nor defeat. The uninspiring, undisciplined masses change their moods like the weather and follow the crowd without ever thinking for themselves.
  2. Choose friends who are virtuous and who don’t unthinkingly do whatever the crowd is doing; ruthlessly discipline ourselves to be freethinkers, always with virtue in mind.

  Above all, remember this:

  Don’t get caught up in the emotions of the crowd.

  You have your own mind, use it.

  No one can force you to behave in a way contrary to virtue and your nature.

  One time at St James’ Park

  Years ago, I was at Newcastle United’s stadium (St James’ Park) watching the football match between Newcastle United and Sunderland.

  It’s a local derby (or grudge match), and the tensions were high all day.

  Sunderland beat Newcastle 3-0, sparking uproar throughout the city of Newcastle.

  One man punched a police horse.

  

  Crowds of people smashed up Newcastle; they set bins on fire, and glass bottles shattered all around me.

  This one poor taxi driver was being rocked back and forth by twenty angry supporters pushing his car from side to side near Central Station ( the main train station in Newcastle).

  All of this madness because of a defeat in a football match.

  Madness is in human nature, and it has the potential to cause havoc in a group.

  Never get consumed by the madness of the group.

  I was inspired to write this article by Seneca’s quote: 

  “ Certainly, the greater the mob with which we mingle, the greater the danger.”

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  13th Nov 2025

  freethinker, mob mentality, Newcastle, seneca, stoicism

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• 5-Bullet Friday 11/07/2025

  5 things worth sharing this week.

  You Are Going To Mess Up Sometimes, Accept It

  On Friday, I was driving back from working out at my local gym.

  I was driving 30 mph down a road I’ve driven down many times, but this time was different.

  Two wood pigeons were making their way across the road.

  They were getting closer to my car as I drove closer to them.

  I swerved and missed one pigeon, but unfortunately, I hit the other one.

  Upon impact, it seemed like it was raining feathers.

  When I arrived at my house, I saw blood and feathers stuck in my grill on the front of my car.

  Before getting out of my car and seeing the remains of this wood pigeon stuck in my car, I thought, “It’ll be fine. I must have just knocked it, and hopefully, the pigeon will be okay.”

  The guilt ate me up, and I drove back to where I accidentally hit the docile pigeon ( to see if it was okay).

  To my disbelief, the pigeon was lying on the road as dead as a dead thing.

  I felt pretty sad, and the guilt was hard to take—it still is.

  It was a complete accident, and I love animals and birds. Only a few weeks before, I helped save a blackbird with a broken jaw (my father and I took it to a bird sanctuary).

  Anyway, the moral of the story is that sometimes you mess up and there’s nothing you can do about it.

  You just need to take it on the chin.

  We Care Far More About Others’ Opinions Of Us Than Our Own ( The Key Is To Care More About What We Think Of Ourselves Than What Others Think Of Us)

  The other day at work, I sat down in the break room. A colleague was eating a tuna salad.

  The first thing she said to me was, “I’m sorry if my tuna salad stinks.”

  I couldn’t smell anything at all.

  But because she thought I could, she had to say it.

  I’ve done the same.

  I went out with my sister and was wearing a jumper that smelled after I had washed it with a different detergent, which I didn’t like the smell of. I said to her, “I’m sorry if my jumper smells.”

  Just like I didn’t care about the smell of my coworker’s tuna salad, my sister didn’t care about the smell of my jumper.

  The moral of the story is that we suffer much more in our minds than in reality.

  We might think that people around us will get annoyed about the smell of our food and other things.

  But the fact is that most people don’t care, and these anxious thoughts are completely worthless.

  As a side note, I brought boiled eggs into the staff room while working at KFC, (when I used to work there) and my coworkers hated it.

  And I laughed :).

  It’s all fun and games.

  Don’t take life so seriously.

  A Quote I’m Pondering

  “It is well to think well; it is divine to act well” – Horace 

  True virtue is displayed in our actions.

  Actions speak louder than words.

  Another quote similar to this is:

  “Who you are speaks so loudly I can’t hear what you’re saying” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

  A Helpful Tip (The Staycation)

  On Wednesday, I was reading Charles Duhigg’s article about staycations. 

  And I found it very enlightening.

  What I took away from it is that you don’t have to travel far to have a holiday.

  So what did I do:

  Yesterday I had a day off and went on a city break holiday.

  In my city, where I live, Newcastle upon Tyne.

  I started by walking in the beautiful Jesmond Dene park, then I had a Naples-style pizza (Margherita) from Rudy’s Pizza restaurant in Newcastle. I then went to the literature and philosophy library ( called Lit and Phil), where I talked to a fellow bibliophile like me and started looking at Horace’s works.

  After that, I walked along the quayside and visited Newcastle Castle.

  The weather was terrific and I was out for around five or six hours.

  The whole day felt like a holiday, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

  Every week, I will try to have one day where I enjoy a staycation and one day where I do nothing ( preferably a Sunday).

  Never Jump On Your High Horse

  We all have things we can improve on.

  Never tell anyone else what to do unless you’re perfect yourself.

  And if you’re not perfect, get to work.

  The greatest footballer of all time, Cristiano Ronaldo, once said in an interview, and I remember this clearly: ” No one’s better than me, and I’m not better than anyone else.”

  I love this because it teaches you to only look at and work on yourself, without comparing yourself to others.

  Because everyone knows that comparison steals your joy.

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  11th Jul 2025

  5-bullet Friday, Newcastle, newsletter, North East England, Staycation

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