Ephemeris of the Mind (Book Review) Everything is F*cked: A Book About Hope
Time to read: 2 min read
Book Cover
So, we’ve got it backward: everything being fucked doesn’t require hope; hope requires everything being fucked.
Other Mark Manson reviews:
Review
I enjoyed the last book so much that I read this book the day after. While the last book focuses on the individual, this book focuses on the society. In particular, this book explores why people are more discontent in the modern day world, despite relative material gains of today compared to the past.
I really liked the philosophical discussions, such as exploring the uncomfortable truth of nihilism to the interpretation of Nietzschean ideas. I also liked the discussions on psychology, such as the idea of two brains and the Blue Dot Effect. He also comes up with creative ways to colloquially distill ideas, such as Newton's 3 Laws of Emotions.
TIP
Newton's 3 Laws of Emotions:
For every action, there is an equal and opposite emotional reaction.
Our self-worth equals the sum of our emotions over time.
Your identity will stay your identity until a new experience acts against it.
Some parts of the book are very academic with well-researched sources and others feel more like opinion columns. I've already read most of the academic analysis elsewhere and many of the ideas aren't novel (criticism of religion, polarization of politics, etc.). There are some interesting ideas surrounding innovation (innovation which replaces pain with better pain versus diversions which aim to stifle the pain) and AI (what happens to artistic expression when the "perfect" form of art can be achieved mechanically). Mason does package all the ideas in an entertaining and accessible fashion.
Unlike the last book, this one doesn't really have a central message and felt kind of all over the place. It's still an entertaining read, though.
Conclusion
Kind of repetitive and scattered compared to the first book, but still a decent read.