11. Diogenes May Be History’s Most Epic Troll Because of his Extreme Antisocial Behavior
Diogenes was a very unusual man by any social standard; modern or ancient. The “father” of Cynicism – a school of thought practiced by the Cynics who believed that the purpose of life is to live in virtue, in agreement with nature – openly doubted and questioned the local authorities and used philosophical arguments to change the corrupt society he lived in. He deeply believed that a better world was possible only if people returned to Mother Nature and accepted it (nature) as the only absolute authority and ruler. However, he had very odd and weird ways to demonstrate his beliefs and theories.
A great example of his crazy behavior was his public masturbation “sessions” at times, which he justified by saying, “If only it were so easy to soothe hunger by rubbing an empty belly.” Diogenes was antisocial and didn’t get impressed easily; not even by a king of the status of Alexander the Great, who went to meet him in Corinth one morning while he was lying in the sunlight. When the famous Greek king asked him whether there was any favor he could do for him, he simply replied, “Yes, stand out of my sunlight.”