Mark Manson

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From the author of the international mega-bestseller The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck comes a counterintuitive guide to the problems of hope. We live in an interesting time. Materially, everything is the best it’s ever been—we are freer, healthier and wealthier than any people in human history. Yet, somehow everything seems to be irreparably and horribly f*cked—the planet is warming, governments are failing, economies are collapsing, and everyone is perpetually offended on Twitter. At this moment in history, when we have access to technology, education and communication our ancestors couldn’t even dream of, so many of us come back to an overriding feeling of hopelessness. What’s going on? If anyone can put a name to our current malaise and help fix it, it’s Mark Manson. In 2016, Manson published The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck, a book that brilliantly gave shape to the ever-present, low-level hum of anxiety that permeates modern living. He showed us that technology had made it too easy to care about the wrong things, that our culture had convinced us that the world owed us something when it didn’t—and worst of all, that our modern and maddening urge to always find happiness only served to make us unhappier. Instead, the “subtle art” of that title turned out to be a bold challenge: to choose your struggle; to narrow and focus and find the pain you want to sustain. The result was a book that became an international phenomenon, selling millions of copies worldwide while becoming the #1 bestseller in 13 different countries. Now, in Everthing Is F*cked, Manson turns his gaze from the inevitable flaws within each individual self to the endless calamities taking place in the world around us. Drawing from the pool of psychological research on these topics, as well as the timeless wisdom of philosophers such as Plato, Nietzsche, and Tom Waits, he dissects religion and politics and the uncomfortable ways they have come to resemble one another. He looks at our relationships with money, entertainment and the internet, and how too much of a good thing can psychologically eat us alive. He openly defies our definitions of faith, happiness, freedom—and even of hope itself. With his usual mix of erudition and where-the-f*ck-did-that-come-from humor, Manson takes us by the collar and challenges us to be more honest with ourselves and connected with the world in ways we probably haven’t considered before. It’s another counterintuitive romp through the pain in our hearts and the stress of our soul. One of the great modern writers has produced another book that will set the agenda for years to come.

A Book About Hope

Everything Is F*cked

Eylon gil

Values cannot be changed through reason, only through experiences 

Dont forget to envision the hard parts of ehat you will become

oalthy value (materialism) with a better one. It's just mastur- hating to your current value. Real change would entail fantasizing what not wanting yachts in the first place would feel like. Fruitful visualization should be a little bit uncomfortable. It should challenge you and be difficult to fathom. If it's not, then it means that nothing is changing. odi otat qute d The Feeling Brain doesn't know the difference between past, Dresent, and future; that's the Thinking Brain's domain39 And one of the strategies our Thinking Brain uses to nudge the Feel- ing Brain into the correct lane of life is asking "what if" ques- tions: What if you hated boats and instead spent your time helping disabled kids? What if you didn't have to prove anything to the people in your life for them to like you? What if people's unavail- ability has more to do with them than it does with you?

EVERYTHING would grieve the loss ofa loved one, the loss ofa iob community, a spiritual belief, ora friendship. These are ing, fundamental parts of you. And when they are torn of a job, a house, a 68 I efin. they are torn way from you rn away, leavin you, the hope they offered your life is also torn away, leavine exposed, once again, to the Uncomfortable Truth. aulty examine the nd them. he the There are two ways to heal yourself-that is, to replace old, fa. s. The first is to ree values with better, healthier values. The first is to reexamin experiences of your past and rewrite the narratives around them he punch me because I'm an awtul person; or is Wait, did awful person? onb t Reexamining the narratives of our lives allows us to have do-over, to decide: you know, maybe I wasn't such a great boat captain after all, and that's fine. Often, with time, we realize that what we used to believe was important about the world actually isn't. Other times, we extend the story to get a clearer view of our self-worth-oh, she left me because some asshole left her and she felt ashamed and unworthy around intimacy-and suddenly, that breakup is easier to swallow. a sd oiigasG abaient Tu The other way to change your values is to begin writing the narratives of your future self, to envision what life would be like if you had certain values or possessed a certain identity. By visu- alizing the future we want for ourselves, we allow our Feeling Brain to try on those values for size, to see what they feel like be- fore we make the final purchase. Eventually, once we've done this enough, the Feeling Brain becomes accustomed to the new values and starts to believe them. This sort of "future projection" is usually taught in the worst of ways. "Imagine you're fucking rich and own a fleet of yachts! Then it will come true!"8 Sadly, that kind of visualization is not replacing

But here's the funny thing about value hierarchies: when they change, you don't actually lose anything. It's not that my friend decided to start giving up the parties for her career, it's that the parties stopped being fun. That's because fun" is the product of our value hierarchies. 

When we stop valuing something, it ceases to be fun or interesting to us. Therefore, there is no sense of loss, no sense of missing out when we stop doing it. On the contrary, we look back and wonder how we ever spent so much time caring about such a silly, trivial thing, why we wasted so much energy on issues and causes that didn't matter. These pangs of regret or em- barrassment are good; they signify growth. They are the product of our achieving our hopes.

Omar Fernandez

Our Feeling Brains warp reality in such a way so that we believe that our problems and pain are somehow special and unique in the world, despite all evidence to the contrary. Human beings require this level of built-in narcissism because narcissism is our last line of defense against the Uncomfortable Truth. Because, let's be real: People suck, and life is exceedingly difficult and unpredictable. Most of us are winging it as we go, if not completely lost. And if we didn't have some false belief in our own superiority (or inferiority), a deluded belief that we're extraordinary at something, we'd line up to swan-dive off the nearest bridge. Without a little bit of that narcissistic delusion, without that perpetual lie we tell ourselves about our specialness, we'd likely give up hope.

But our inherent narcissism comes at a cost. Whether you believe youre the best in the best in the world or the worst in the world, one thing is also true: you are separate from the world. 

And it's this separateness that ultimately perpetuates unnecessary suffering. 

There's pretty much always been a tacit assumption that our emotions cause all our problems, and that our reason must swoop in to clean up the mess. This line of thinking goes all the way back to Socrates, who declared reason the root of all virtue. At the beginning of the Enlightenment, Descartes argued that our reason was separate from our animalistic desires and that it had to learn to control those desires. Kant sort of said the same thing." Freud, too, except there were a lot of penises involved." And when Egas Moniz lobotomized his first patient in 1935, I'm sure he thought he had just discovered a way to do what, for more than two thousand years, philosophers had declared needed to be done: to grant reason dominion over the unruly passions, to help humanity fi- nally exercise some damn control over itself.

Hope doesn't even have to enter into the equation. Don't hope for a better life. Simply be a better life.

A society without trustworthy institutions or leaders cannot develop rules the and roles. Without trust, there no reliable principles to dictate decisions, therefore everything devolves back into childish selfishness.

Terry Benzie

This isn't an easy book to review, in part, because I haven't decided if this is simply a collection of essays or a book with an actual thesis. Assuming the latter, I believe Manson swung hard at a very hard topic and though he didn't entirely connect, even trying to piece together the ideas into a comprehensive whole makes it a more mature book than his previous effort (which I greatly enjoyed but haven't re-read as of the time of this review). 

To begin with, ignore the title and the random profanity scattered throughout the book. Both appear to have been edited in to capitalize on the success of "Subtle Art" and the latter is so random as to be entirely unnecessary. Also, you can ignore many of the podcasts he is currently going on to promote this book as I've listened to four or five and none (outside of Kaufman's "Psychology Podcast" get at what the book is even about or make Manson look like more than a guy moaning about how unfortunate he was to sell a boatload of books in his last effort. 

The above being said, Manson is a talented writer. He is trying to put very hard concepts into an easily digestible format, trying to combine Nietzsche and Kant and Taleb along with various pieces of psychological research to come to a conclusion that....well, everything is fucked because of hope but hope comes from everything being fucked. I spent 2/3 of the book thinking this was simply a well-written self-help book & "nothing new" but he ties in the ideas nicely with thoughts related to AI to arrive in a place vastly different than I thought he was heading and that's a good thing. 

I anticipate reading through "Everything" a few more times to play with a few of his ideas. I sent out messages to a few people that I thought they would enjoy the book and should read it though it's probably not for all.

Elisavet Rozaki 

Mark Manson is extremely blunt and will probably challenge your beliefs in an uncomfortable way, but that's what a book should do anyway.

Picked this up off a friend’s shelf with the preconceived notion that it’s probably just another flimsy self-help book. I.e. the ones you find in airport bookshops. 

The book actually has some profound moments, effectively explaining psychological concepts that get fetishised and/or made vague elsewhere.

Docking points for the meandering and incomprehensible ending on artificial intelligence.

Danny White

Picked this up off a friend’s shelf with the preconceived notion that it’s probably just another flimsy self-help book. I.e. the ones you find in airport bookshops. 

The book actually has some profound moments, effectively explaining psychological concepts that get fetishised and/or made vague elsewhere.

Docking points for the meandering and incomprehensible ending on artificial intelligence.

Wilde

Less dudebro than his last book but does remind me of undergrad philosophy guys trying to sound profound.

Dhruv Chopra

A good read that talks a lot about how we can be better.

hope was a tool to manipulate u, take responsibility now

Lakshay Sethi 

Ivy X

I actually really enjoyed this book. I found myself enlightened by many parts of the books, and it felt like I was actually listening to someone introduce their philosophy to me. I love the straightforwardness and also breaking down the way we understand our world into something smaller-than-life. It highlights ideas that we don't normally focus on and the hypocrisy we often have when understanding ourselves, others, and beliefs. Albeit, I feel like I enjoyed this book because this is how I'm thinking and understanding myself and those around me. I was just starting to dive deeper into optimistic nihilism in quarantine when this book basically broke down the reasonings of why nothing truly matters and why we are so reliant on "hope." 

I enjoyed the religion/philosophy portions, and how religious systems are all just created to make sense of the world around us and give us unity/hope. We could all form a religion, and in a sense, we all believe in something that can provide a hope similar to what religion can. However, he also shows the way we have corrupted our understandings of these systems/hopes/etc. 

The idea of looking into the future of AI is also very fascinating (if not terrifying).

Ryan LaFerney

Mark Manson is a popular author who writes eye-catching titles. The title of this book certainly appealed to me, although I generally avoid self-help books. In Everything is F*cked: A Book About Hope, Manson attempts to explain our modern dilemma through the use of hard science, history, moral philosophy, and his humor. His basic argument is that Everything is F*cked because we our essentially guided by our emotions, and our emotions never allow us to be 100 percent pleased in life. And while technological progress has been a good thing (or possesses the potential to help society become better), it has grown (more or less) to accommodate our emotions and our biases (think of how easy it is to find others on the Internet who believe the same crazy theory that you believe in). Mark's solutions include: trying to live in the present moment in a state of detachment, acknowledging pain is useful, realizing that is okay to not be satisfied, and hoping for an AI revolution that will become a new religion. I found the latter to be quite alarming - especially in light of his other solutions, because this renders them moot.

If it wasn't for Manson's hope in transhumanism, I would have rated this book a bit higher. He certainly makes some interesting points (or borrows some interesting points I should say). But I cannot agree with his view that transhumanism will make our world better. As a Christian, I found his secular arguments to be in-line with a lot of Orthodox theology. Orthodox theologians would certainly agree with Manson that our society lacks moral character. They would agree that technology has been highjacked by our emotions. They would agree that pain is helpful and agree that living in the present (while hoping for a better future) is important. But of course, for Orthodox Theologians and a Christian such as myself, our hope in the transformation of such a messed up world, is in Christ. And it is by living his commandments, repenting of our sins, that we can transform the world. 

Manson's writing can be well-researched but it can also, unfortunately, can come across as an immature attempt to sell ideas to his audience. I found most of his humor to be crass rather than witty or enjoyable. If crass humor is your thing, this book might work a bit better for you.

In the end, I'm not sure Manson's book is a call to arms to a better life but he does provide some interesting points about the nature of happiness. I learned a few things by reading this but I don't 100% agree with his wishful solution of an AI revolution as the solution to all our problems because I think this will actually take away our capacity to be fully human.

Phillip Santiago

My view on Manson's breakout book, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, was that he was presenting some relatively useful philosophy in a slightly obnoxious package. By the end of his second book, the terrible bro persona went full mask-off. 

Committing to a value isn't the same thing as becoming narcissistic and robotized to the point where you dismiss everyone else's values as "fragility." His final chapter is quite literally insane, exposing a level of overthinking that explains why his pop philosophy has been subtly bothering you for several chapters.

Two stars because he's still an entertainer first and foremost and where else am I going to get exposure to Schopenhauer outside of obscure podcasts?

Umut Hakkinda Bir Kitap

Her Sey Bktan

Ilham Akbarli

İl başlayan kimi heç nəyin yaxşı olmayacağını xatırladan əziz kitab, təşəkkürlər.

Kuba Milcarz

The second part of the book is really good. The first 100 pages were a slog. But man, his style of writing is so funny and at once informative haha

João Maia

IMO the last couple of chapters have some kind of interest, tho I kept thinking this was a Yuval book.

Ugis

Unexpectedly refreshing. Interesting concepts reviewed and perspective that resonated a lot. Ton of notes made and also interesting writing style. Recommended read! [reading time: 7h27m]

Mariane Ferrantino 

I think I liked this even better than the first book. It’s definitely comforting to realize that the one human constant is pain. I know that doesn’t seem like a comfort on the surface, but it’s comforting to me in that it’s a real equalizer for all humanity. I highly recommend this to anyone who has ever gone through something. It put a lot of parts of my life in perspective!

Chris Raastad

I wanted to give this 4, but after reviewing the summary, I was reminded of how good of a read it is and upgraded to 5.

Summary: https://dansilvestre.com/everything-i...

Overall, it's a great book that makes you think about yourself, life, and the motivation for your actions and the society around you. 

Mark Manson talks about profound topics that make you think about life, these include:
* The Uncomfortable Truth, life is pretty meaningless
* The Paradox of Progress, the better off we are the worse we feel
* Self control, thinking vs. feeling brain, feeling brain is in control
* Newton's Law of Emotions, a brilliant metaphor for the workings of emotion
* How to establish your own religion, a parity on how humanity capitalize on "hope" 
* Slave vs. Master Morality, source of our political problems
* Types of thinking, child, adolescence, and adult, the consequences of being "stuck" in a lower level of consciousness
* The Blue Dot Effect, creating our own despair from nothing
* The feelings economy, aka marketing, Innovations (upgrade pain) & Diversions (avoid pain)
* The Final Religion, can you guess what it is?

Mark mansion uses his classic colloquial language and metaphors. Sometimes it can be rash and beating around the bush, but most of the time it's effective about making you think about these self-awareness concepts. The title feels like click bait, I would not say this is a book about hope, but a book about self-awareness and becoming a better person. It's quite complimentary to Repacture the Rapture.

"act that you use humanity, whether in your own person or any other, always at the same time as the end, never merely as a means"

"We must stop hoping and accept what is. That is the only way to end the perpetual cycle of conflict."

Volkan Yorulmaz

The only thing that can ever truly destroy a dream is to have it come true.

https://myhighlightz.blogspot.com/201...

Denise La Greca

Non vedevo l'ora di finire questo libro per demolirlo.
Allora 
Il suo primo libro mi piacque e anche parecchio. Ciò che mi piace di Mark è il suo modo diretto di porsi al lettore, di dire la verità "scomoda", ed ero anche d'accordo con lui.
Ma questo libro è un mix di:
- pensieri random sulla religione e su come creare una propria religione personale (trovo stupida e infantile questa idea)
- Mark che esprime opinioni saltando da un tema all'altro senza una vera base scientifica, uno straccio di prova o dimostrazione, ma così mettiamoci un po' di psicologia, un po' di Nietzsche e condiamo il tutto con qualche luogo comune et voilà, eccovi servito uno spiegone senza fondamenta (io amo gli spiegoni, ma il suo è un mix inestricabile). Insomma più continuavo a leggere più speravo (a proposito di speranza) solo una cosa: di finire questo libro al più presto.
Risparmiatevi queste ore di lettura, sembra scritto da un ubriaco. Mark tutto a posto?

Safiya 

Long story short: this is as usual a long blog article, yet enjoyable one.
I think that Manson has his own crude style, but what I have liked was the prescient analysis with which he brings forth the not familiar lives of popular philosophers, psychoanalysts and scientists. He has this provocative way of thinking and writing, and does it in a simple and straight way.

The last chapter and epilogue felt like a prologue to a sci-fi classic, I see another equivalent of THHGTG, but this guide might be a guide to the AI religion.
In any case, yes it wasn't a bad read, and fortunately it was short.

One of the main ideas was to "Kant"ize AI and give it a ethical depth. I loved the bit about AI giving humanity a space for there conflicts and wars, since humans are only innovative under pressure, but making sure to lower the pitfalls of such disasters...


  "Human hope will be harvested like a resource, a never-ending reservoir of creative energy."

Asrin Juinio

Preferred Manson’s self-improvement angle in Subtle Art.

Ivaylo Durmonski

The world is fucked and all superheroes known to man are nowhere to be found. Fortunately, we have Mark Manson and his book Everything Is F*cked: A Book About Hope. Without exaggeration, this book might save your life. Except being hilarious, it’s also well researched and well written.

Even though the online trolls are already bombarding this book with negative reviews, it’s a must read for all of us. All of us looking for meaning and hope in this crazy-ass life. It will teach you about values, religion, and maturity in a very different way. Along with that, it will help you get closer to your ultimate meaning in life.

My best take from the book is this: The world is a mess because of us. And if we want to make things better, it’s up to us to stand up and take action. To learn to act without hope. 

Full summary: https://durmonski.com/book-summaries/...

Deborah Kerr

I found this book enjoyable and funny and I think Manson's frat boy with a philosophy degree writing style is perfect for this length of book. Anything over 250 pages though is probably going to get annoying though.

This book is a quick read and I found it light (an odd thing to say considering the insanely heavy topics Manson covers) and easy. But it is not here to make you feel better about yourself--in fact if you finish the book going, "I feel uplifted," then I'm pretty sure you didn't understand it.

Unfortunately for Manson "The Good Place" exists and is a superior piece of media for feeding the American populace simplified ethics and moral philosophy. TGP also teaches philosophy and ethics with a positive spin whereas Manson stands by the statement "Everything is Fucked."

I think my biggest problem with this book is that Manson tackles the supreme questions of life, and while he is entertaining and insightful, he only dips his toe in the pool. By the end it all feels superficial. I wanted more. I wanted deeper analysis and explanation but as stated above, I don't know if stylistically Manson is the one to do that. He is a good writer outside of his "distinctive style" and I think maybe in a few years he could produce something with the level of deep analysis these questions deserve.

Also, the final chapter on AI felt like it was tacked on because his publisher told him they wanted the book to be longer than his first. He did an admirable job of making it seem like it fit in with the rest of the book, as though he had always intended for this to be his "Yeah, so going forward..." chapter but instead it feels wedged in by a coasting senior who has a word count to meet on their final paper before graduation.

Overall an interesting read with a lot of great anecdotes, but if you want nuanced, fully-fleshed discourse on philosophy this is not the book

Emma Myers

This one sorta went a little weird. I love all his books so I was excited to read this one...I really don't think this one hit me like the others.

Tejas Bhatt

Lot of eastern philosophy masqueraded as western philosophy with a generous doze of fucks to make it sound edgy and palatable to new age and younger reader base.

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