Name: The Wisdom of Insecurity
Rating: 4.0625 (48 reviews)
ISBN: 9780394704685

Alan Watts

Classic. Proposes the reversal of ordinary thinking - how to live in an insecure world without the consolation of religious belief.

The Wisdom of Insecurity

Jack Baty

I don't know who this book is for, but it's not me. It felt like the same 4 sentences about how the past and future don't matter and avoiding the "divided mind" repeated with a splash of eastern religions thrown in.

In sum: Live in the moment.

Ivaylo Durmonski

The main mission of Alan Watts is to help us know ourselves better. To smash our current understandings about happiness and pain so we can find meaning in this, at first, meaningless world.

The book was published in 1954 but the whole concept is timeless, also, quite true even today. We’re living in a pleasure-seeking age. We want to feel good all the time which, unfortunately, is making us unable to cope with pain. Intolerable to the daily struggles which result in depression.

The concept I liked most in the book is the following: The thing we desire more than anything else in life is to feel good. But since this is not possible we’re in agony when even the slightest sign of pain appears. Or in other words, to really feel good, we need to make “painful” things seem more desirable. Tasks that will lead to future gains more appealing. This way, you can finally start exercising even though you don’t quite like doing physical activities.

Read full review: https://durmonski.com/book-summaries/...

Luca Conti

Suggests that the best way to achieve security in life is to let go of the anxiety associated with the past and future, understand and accept the limits of technology and science, and to focus on the present moment.

The Wisdom of Insecurity

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