Across families

New Thought and Stoicism

Different families with 11 axes in close agreement — the sort of pairing a quiz weighting only the divine axes would never surface. Mean distance across all seventeen axes: 0.15 (0 would be identical).

New ThoughtMetaphysical

An impersonal Divine Mind that everything participates in, and a claim that thought shapes circumstance. There is nothing wrong with you that correct understanding will not fix — the highest C3 value in the matrix.

StoicismPhilosophical

A rational order running through a material cosmos, and a life spent aligning your judgements with it. Its positions on authority, text and ritual land almost exactly where Quaker Christianity does, which is the most interesting near-collision in the matrix.

Where they agree

B3 Institutional authority
Both sit at individual conscience decides — a gap of 0.00.
E3 Locus of belonging
Both sit at an individual choice — a gap of 0.02.
A4 Locus
Both sit at fully present within it — a gap of 0.03.
E4 Standing of nature
Both sit at leaning animate and itself sacred — a gap of 0.04.
B1 Source of truth
Both sit at reason and direct experience — a gap of 0.04.
D1 Mechanism of the ultimate good
Both sit at achieved by effort or insight — a gap of 0.07.
A2 Personhood
Both sit at leaning impersonal principle or order — a gap of 0.07.
B2 Reading of sacred text
Both sit at metaphorical, or no text at all and leaning metaphorical, or no text at all respectively — a gap of 0.10.
E2 Origin of the cosmos
Both sit at leaning an intentional act — a gap of 0.10.
A3 Plurality
Both sit at strictly one and leaning strictly one respectively — a gap of 0.10.
C2 Shape of time
Both sit at between one life, then judgment and cyclical return — a gap of 0.10.

Where they part company

C1 Survival of the self
New Thought: continues in some form. Stoicism: ends at death. A gap of 0.73 on an axis running from “ends at death” to “continues in some form”.
D3 The body
New Thought: leaning to be celebrated. Stoicism: between to be disciplined and to be celebrated. A gap of 0.40 on an axis running from “to be disciplined” to “to be celebrated”.

All seventeen axes

Axis	New Thought	Stoicism	Gap
A1 Divine reality	a divine reality certainly exists	between nothing beyond the natural and a divine reality certainly exists	0.23
A2 Personhood	leaning impersonal principle or order	leaning impersonal principle or order	0.07
A3 Plurality	strictly one	leaning strictly one	0.10
A4 Locus	fully present within it	fully present within it	0.03
B1 Source of truth	reason and direct experience	reason and direct experience	0.04
B2 Reading of sacred text	metaphorical, or no text at all	leaning metaphorical, or no text at all	0.10
B3 Institutional authority	individual conscience decides	individual conscience decides	0.00
C1 Survival of the self	continues in some form	ends at death	0.73
C2 Shape of time	between one life, then judgment and cyclical return	between one life, then judgment and cyclical return	0.10
C3 The human condition	ignorant but fundamentally sound	leaning ignorant but fundamentally sound	0.13
D1 Mechanism of the ultimate good	achieved by effort or insight	achieved by effort or insight	0.07
D2 Centrality of ritual	leaning optional or absent	optional or absent	0.20
D3 The body	leaning to be celebrated	between to be disciplined and to be celebrated	0.40
E1 Exclusivity	many valid paths	leaning many valid paths	0.22
E2 Origin of the cosmos	leaning an intentional act	leaning an intentional act	0.10
E3 Locus of belonging	an individual choice	an individual choice	0.02
E4 Standing of nature	leaning animate and itself sacred	leaning animate and itself sacred	0.04

Positions for New Thought rest principally on Holmes, The Science of Mind (1926) and Unity’s statements of belief; for Stoicism, on Epictetus’ Discourses, Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations, Seneca’s Letters. Per-cell sources are listed on each tradition’s own page.

Which of the two is closer to you?

The questionnaire places your answers on these same axes and ranks all 65 traditions by how closely they match. Take it.