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Deep Analysis of Anna Karenina Part Three: Four Stages of Competence (Chapters 4-6) (Patreon)

Published:
2021-03-02 08:51:52
Imported:
2026-06
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Content

We're talking about the four stages of competence and "arbeitskur" - finding one's salvation through physical exertion and work. 

This might be one of my personal favourite videos to date.

  • 0:00 Levin mowing in the fields
  • 1:00 "To be or not to be?"
  • 1:55 Aristotle: You are what you repeatedly do
  • 2:10 A prescription doctors don't give to depressed people
  • 2:45 If you're depressed, work until you're exhausted
  • 3:00 Thought experiment: romantically rejected before COVID
  • 5:00 The four stages of conscious/unconscious competence
  • 10:20 Suffering is the norm, but motion is where you find bliss 
  • 11:00 Do you like the Levin chapters?
  • 14:00 Free will vs determinism 
  • 14:15 Arbeitskur (work cure)

Questions:

1) What is your personal experience with "arbeitskur" (work cure)?

2) Do you like the Levin chapters? Readers are often very divided. Some love them, some are thoroughly bored by them. How have you responded to them?

Files

Previews only

Deep Analysis of Anna Karenina Part Three: Four Stages of Competence (Chapters 3-4)

0:00 Levin mowing in the fields 1:00 "To be or not to be?" 1:55 Aristotle: You are what you repeatedly do 2:10 A prescription doctors don't give to depressed people 2:45 If you're depressed, work until you're exhausted 3:00 Thought experiment: romantically rejected before COVID 5:00 The four stages of conscious/unconscious competence 10:20 Suffering is the norm, but motion is where you find bliss 11:00 Do you like the Levin chapters? 14:00 Free will vs determinism 14:15 Arbeitskur (work cure)

Comments

Fiona Wang

It has invariably been the case that when I need work the most, I become most reluctant. It is a vicious and, as it sometimes seems, unbreakable cycle. When I am caught up in a depressive or irritated mood, I either lose interest in most things or become unable to focus on a single task. Both result in inactivity and procrastination, which are the opposite of what my mind desires, so I get frustrated. Being frustrated, I am now too distraught to begin any work. And the cycle repeats until some external factor breaks in or some internal resistance breaks through. There is a cycle with productivity too. Once I allow myself to be fully immersed in work, it is often hard to pull the brake. The momentum has now been built and the wheels are turning effortlessly - this is exactly what Levin experiences with mowing. I love that comical moment when Levin is puzzled by the muzhiks suddenly stopping, completely oblivious of the fact that they had been mowing nonstop for four hours and breakfast time has come (p. 251). There is perhaps no greater indication of deep work than when one is unaware of exhaustion and hunger.

hardcoreliterature
>>56644316

I completely relate. I've recently been caught in a cycle of productivity, which I believe ended up running me down a little, but truly made me believe: "if you want something done, give it to a busy person". Momentum is so real. But, as you point out, the other side of that coin is the plateau.. I remember during my finals at university, I would get into such a state of flow/deep work that I wouldn't realise I had missed food until I was starving!

Brian Whooley

Considering Levin's thoughts about what he had mowed and what more could be done.. I couldn't help but see Tolstoy speaking of his own experience while writing this novel. We know writers can enter a flow state and I can't help but think that Tolstoy saw his own written pages in the mowings and how much more he could accomplish.