The Song of the Sirens

Happy Sunday Friends!

Here’s one quote I’m musing on this week, two core ideas, three favorite things, and one question to carry with you into the week ahead.

One Quote I’m Musing

None can resist the song of the Sirens. To sail past, you must choose chains or ruin.

| A Paraphrase I’m using from Homer’s The Odyssey

🔍 This Week’s Reflection

The ancients understood temptation better than we give them credit for. Odysseus (Ulysses to the Romans) knew he couldn’t outwit the Sirens by sheer willpower.

He didn’t tell himself, I’ll be strong enough when the moment comes.

He knew their song wouldn’t just be beautiful. It would be personal.

It would whisper to him exactly what he wanted to hear.

And so, he did the only thing a wise man can do: he implemented controls. He tied himself to the mast.

Discipline isn’t always about gritting your teeth when the moment comes. It’s about knowing the moment will absolutely come.

And you will absolutely fail.

So, you build the system and control that saves you from yourself.

Most interpretations say the Sirens’ song was sensual, carnal, irresistible in its beauty. But Cicero, in On Moral Ends, offers a different perspective. He writes that what the Sirens really promised was not pleasure, but knowledge. A “storehouse of special knowledge.”

“It was neither the seductiveness of their voices, nor the uniqueness and variety of their singing, that used to divert unwary mariners; rather, it was because they claimed to have a storehouse of special knowledge. It was man’s lust for learning that caused him to become ensnared by the Sirens’ fateful rocks.”

Aren’t we, too, pulled in by the promise of knowledge even to our own detriment?

Today’s Sirens don’t sit on rocks in the sea. They sit behind screens, algorithms tuned to our deepest curiosities and fears. They whisper: Click here. Scroll longer. We’ll show you the truth no one else sees.

And once again, it’s not information; it’s a business model.

🪞 Mirror Moments

Just like Odysseus, it’s not enough to say: I won’t get distracted.

You have to bind yourself to the mast.

And sometimes, you need more than self-controls. You need your crew.
This is where the Ulysses Pact comes in: agreements we make with our friends, colleagues, or teammates to keep each other steady. To remind us (when we are thrashing against the ropes) that we knew this was coming, and we chose in advance not to answer the call.

It’s accountability at its most ancient and most modern.

🔑 The Key Insight

Discipline isn’t denying the Sirens.

Discipline is knowing when a song will overpower you, so you design your defenses now.

This is as true for your life as it is for cybersecurity.
NIST doesn’t assume you’ll never click the phishing link or leave the door unlocked.

It assumes you will.

And so, we layer in controls, detection, response, defense-in-depth.

The lesson: Your mast is your protocol. Your policies are the wax; your crew is accountability. They are how you keep steady, knowing what’s happening but unchanged by the situation.

🛠️ A Personal Control Protocol

If you’re like me, you’re constantly looking for systems to rise to, here’s a system with NISF CSF parallels:

• Identify your Sirens. Where do you predictably fail?
  → NIST: Identify — Know your assets, risks, and vulnerabilities.

• Name your mast. What structure or rule can hold you fast? (Blocking apps, set routines, accountability partner.)
  → NIST: Protect — Build safeguards and controls to withstand the pull.

• Fill the crew’s ears. Who can you enlist to block out the noise with you?
  → NIST: Detect — Surround yourself with people or systems that sense when temptation is near.

• Make a Ulysses Pact. Pre-commit with your friends, colleagues, or team: If I start thrashing, remind me of the choice I made before the song began.
  → NIST: Respond — Activate your accountability crew when the incident (temptation) strikes.

• Audit the system. Just like cyber controls, test and refine. Don’t assume one measure is enough.
  → NIST: Recover — Review what worked, patch the gaps, and strengthen for the next voyage.

💡 Two Ideas From Me

• Think dangerously: Somehow, we assume our future self will be stronger, more disciplined, have more time, and be more attractive (what?). Don’t trust your future self. Build the controls now.

• The Sirens don’t sing beauty. They sing certainty. That’s what makes them deadly.

🔥 Three Favorite Things This Week

1. Book: The Cybersecurity Canon – a reminder that great defenses don’t come from assuming perfection but engineering for failure.

2. Essay: Cicero’s On Moral Ends, Book V — timeless wisdom on why the lust for knowledge can be as dangerous as the lust for pleasure.

3. Tool: Freedom App blocks websites, apps, and even the whole internet across devices. Simple and effective. It’s wax for your ears in the digital age.

❓ One Question for the Week

Where in your life do you still trust yourself to resist the Sirens when you should be tying yourself to the mast?

Until Sunday, my friends.

Think Dangerously.
–e