It's 11:11pm and I should be sleeping. But work is no fun, and I'd rather blog a response to Scooter, about this book I'm reading. A small part of me wonders if I'm just intellectually starved. Like when you eat that first bite of cottage cheese after a 10 mile run. Cottage cheese tastes "okay" by itself, but after a long run without breakfast? It tastes DIVINE!
I agree that we are better off than before. The point Meyers was trying to make is that our material well-being, health, and safety aren't proportionate to our psychic or emotional well-being. That's the part that I agreed with, and have tried to touch on in the past in my whiny sort of way. (then Keara comes in and tells me to count my blessings)
So now we are right back to the same question about happiness. How can one be unhappy given all the blessings mentioned above? (material well-being, health, and safety) And this author, in a long, drawn out, round about way tries to tackle that question. Not directly, but with small tid-bits here and there that I'm slowly trying to digest.
Sadly, the books focus is not a question on happiness, but of why Americans are discontent (his main beef it seems, is with media). Still, I find myself connecting to a lot of different things he has to say, especially a section on "Broadband Babies", referring to those born after the turn of the century, in the range of the 2020 college grads. It's hard not to think about that part in context of Megan, growing up in this age.
The problem with the book is that it is seriously ALL over the place. It's like a long stream of consciousness with not enough organization. It's an enjoyable read, but an odd mix of deep philosophical concepts with light anecdotal stories. But when he starts quoting my favorite philosopher (Søren Kierkegaard), I can't help but read on.
1 comment:
Broadband babies sound interesting. I didn't know there was a generational name for that group yet. I suppose it's in someone's marketing interest.
If you're intellectually starved, you should just start a MeetUp book group at the local ice cream shop - embrace technology, both via the web and modern refrigeration.
And I understand that people get unhappy, despite everything they have. But I feel there's a bit of personal responsibility to find peace with yourself, and that's, in many respects, an issue unrelated to material benefits (or constraints, as you will). The benefits can distract, but they can also help.
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