So for the Twitter CEO and his kind, trying to control biology with low-grade torture, plus a disinterest in traditional rich-people trappings, may be a kind of self-imposed penance for having built platforms and technology that have unleashed some pretty bad things on the world. I would argue that the motivations of these super-elites are plainly not the same as those of other Silicon Valley workers, who periodically jump on fads like soylent and micro dosing. These larks have more in common with gaming or cosplay, and tie into fanboy fantasies about next-level living in a STEM world.

Stoicism is different. It asks that its followers dispense with all the sparkle, deliciousness, and fluff, and get back to humble basics. It’s a sort of reverse elitism that could also, potentially, blame-proof a tech billionaire’s legacy. “I may have invented Twitter,” Dorsey might say. “But I walk to work and vacationed at spiritual retreats that look like refugee camps!”