Indifference as a Power

• by Petabite
philosophyproductivitypsychologyminimalism

Indifference as a Power

We’re told to care deeply about everything: our career, our health, politics, the environment, social causes, personal growth. The result? Exhaustion, anxiety, and burnout.

What if the secret is strategic indifference?

The Problem with Caring

Caring takes energy. Finite, depleting energy.

When you care about:

  • What your coworkers think
  • Your GitHub star count
  • Hacker News comments
  • Your follower count
  • Last week’s mistakes
  • Next year’s unknowns

You have no energy left for things that actually matter.

The Stoic View

Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor and philosopher:

“You have power over your mind—not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”

Translation: You can control your reactions. You can’t control everything else.

Choose what deserves your concern.

Strategic Indifference

Not caring about everything. Caring deeply about a few things, and being indifferent to the rest.

What I’m Indifferent To

Career prestige: I don’t care about:

  • Job titles
  • Fancy company logos on LinkedIn
  • Total compensation comparisons
  • Promotions at companies I don’t respect

Result: I optimize for learning and autonomy, not status.

Social media metrics: I don’t care about:

  • Follower counts
  • Engagement rates
  • Going viral
  • Being “known”

Result: I publish for clarity of thought, not audience growth.

Others’ opinions: I don’t care about:

  • What strangers think of my code
  • Hacker News critics
  • Whether people “get” my projects

Result: I build what interests me, not what’s popular.

Outcomes I can’t control: I don’t care about:

  • Market timing
  • Luck
  • Other people’s decisions
  • Global events

Result: I focus on inputs (effort, skill), not outputs (results).

What I Care About Deeply

Because I’m indifferent to the above, I can invest heavily in:

Craft: Writing better code, understanding systems deeply, building things that work.

Autonomy: Having control over my time, projects, and decisions.

Relationships: Close friends and family, not a large network of weak ties.

Health: Sleep, exercise, and mental well-being over hustle culture.

Learning: Curiosity for its own sake, not for career advancement.

The Power of Not Caring

1. Reduced Anxiety

When you stop caring about things outside your control:

  • Stock market crashes? Indifferent (I have a long time horizon)
  • Negative comments? Indifferent (they don’t know my goals)
  • Project fails? Indifferent (learned something)

Anxiety evaporates.

2. Faster Decisions

When you don’t care about:

  • Looking smart
  • Being liked
  • Avoiding criticism

You can:

  • Ship imperfect code (iterate later)
  • Say “no” without explanation (your time is finite)
  • Quit projects that aren’t working (sunk cost is sunk)

Decisiveness improves.

3. Creative Freedom

When you don’t care about:

  • What’s trendy
  • What gets upvoted
  • What’s “serious” work

You can:

  • Build weird side projects
  • Write unpolished thoughts
  • Experiment without pressure

Creativity flourishes.

4. Resilience

When you don’t care about:

  • Temporary setbacks
  • Others’ success
  • Short-term metrics

You become:

  • Less discouraged by failures
  • Less envious of peers
  • More focused on the long game

Persistence increases.

Practical Application

For Work

Care about: Quality of work, learning, impact on users Don’t care about: Office politics, promotions, peer comparisons

Meeting invitation: "Sync to align on Q3 strategy"
Response: "I'll read the notes afterward" (indifferent to meetings)

Performance review: "You need to be more visible"
Response: "I prefer to focus on shipping" (indifferent to visibility)

For Side Projects

Care about: Solving the problem, learning the tech Don’t care about: GitHub stars, user counts, monetization

Comment: "Why not use React instead?"
Response: *ignore* (indifferent to tech preferences of strangers)

Friend: "How many users do you have?"
Response: "Dunno, wasn't tracking" (indifferent to vanity metrics)

For Social Media

Care about: Expressing ideas clearly, archiving thoughts Don’t care about: Likes, followers, engagement

Post gets 3 likes: Fine
Post gets 300 likes: Also fine

Someone disagrees: Indifferent
Someone blocks me: Indifferent

For Life

Care about: Health, relationships, autonomy Don’t care about: Status, possessions, others’ paths

Friend buys Tesla: Happy for them, don't want one myself
News article about doom: Read once, move on
Asked to attend event: "No thanks" (no explanation needed)

The Line Between Indifference and Apathy

Apathy: Not caring about anything (nihilism, depression) Strategic indifference: Not caring about the wrong things (stoicism, focus)

Apathy is giving up. Indifference is choosing battles.

How to Cultivate Indifference

1. Identify What Drains You

List things that:

  • Trigger anxiety
  • Consume mental energy
  • Don’t align with your goals

Examples:

  • Twitter arguments
  • Coworker drama
  • News cycles
  • Others’ opinions

2. Deliberately Stop Caring

For each item, ask:

  • “Can I control this?”
  • “Does this matter in 5 years?”
  • “Does caring improve my life?”

If no: practice indifference.

3. Redirect Energy

Energy saved from not caring redirects to what matters:

Energy not spent on:    Redirected to:
- Social media          -> Reading
- News                  -> Building
- Drama                 -> Relationships
- Comparison            -> Growth

4. Build Habits

  • Don’t check metrics: Stars, views, likes, etc.
  • Don’t read comments: Especially from strangers
  • Don’t explain yourself: To people who don’t matter
  • Don’t ruminate: On past mistakes or future unknowns

The Paradox

When you stop caring about results, results improve:

  • Stop caring about being liked → people respect you more
  • Stop caring about success → you take smarter risks
  • Stop caring about others’ opinions → you do better work
  • Stop caring about status → you achieve more status (if you even notice)

Why? Because you’re optimizing for the right things.

My Practice

Daily reminders:

  • “This doesn’t matter”
  • “Not my problem”
  • “I don’t care what they think”
  • “Outside my control”

These aren’t cynical. They’re liberating.

When Indifference Fails

Sometimes you should care:

  • Close relationships (family, friends)
  • Your health
  • Your craft
  • Your integrity

Indifference is a tool, not a philosophy. Use it deliberately.

The Outcome

After a year of practicing strategic indifference:

  • Anxiety: Down 80%
  • Productivity: Up (fewer distractions)
  • Satisfaction: Higher (focusing on what matters)
  • Relationships: Deeper (fewer, higher quality)

I’m not “zen” or “enlightened.” I just stopped wasting energy.

The Takeaway

You have finite energy. Spend it wisely.

Care deeply about a few things. Be indifferent to the rest.

Indifference isn’t weakness. It’s focus.

Try it. Stop caring about 5 things this week. Notice what happens.

I bet you don’t miss them.