What’s in it for me? Discover how hope can get in the way of living a satisfying life.
Most of us have hopes and dreams of a better future. But what if those hopes are actually getting in the way of us living a more satisfying life? What if we’re all looking for a future that can never live up to our expectations? This may sound like a big downer, but there’s an important and uplifting message here as well.
As author Mark Manson points out, there’s been a lot of progress worldwide in the past couple of generations, especially in the areas of poverty, starvation and child mortality, yet we still see rising rates of depression and anxiety all around us. In Manson’s estimation, a lot of this has to do with hope, and the way that it links people’s happiness to unrealistic visions of a perfect future. In the pursuit of happiness, people have lost sight of the virtues and characteristics that can truly help us in the present, like courage, honesty and humility.
Manson has some tough words for people obsessed with comfort, ease, life hacks and happiness, but his advice is constructive and meant to keep us focused on the here, the now, and the things that really matter.
In these blinks you’ll find out:
- why pure logic doesn’t lead to the best decisions;
- why the pursuit of happiness is impossible; and
- why putting AI in control might not be so bad after all.
