Book Blurb - Everything is F*****
Everything is F*****: A Book About Hope By Mark Manson
If you have read ‘The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F***’ then you are familiar with Mark Manson’s quippy, satirical yet philosophical way of looking at life. While this book builds a bit onto the previous one, it takes a spin of its own.
While the first one had some philosophy present to be sure, this one takes the cake as it takes you on a philosophical and physics wind warp.
Before I lose you with the idea of warping your brain, I promise you that the warp is worth it.
Nihilism
The rejection of all religious and moral principles, in the belief that life is meaningless
Extreme skepticism maintaining that nothing in the world has a real existence.
(Oxford Languages Dictionary)
Now to recap, the first book was not a nihilistic endorsement but a reminder to center into what truly makes us happy and to let go of the other things that do not serve us to care about (namely social media likes, the temperature of our lattes etc.). Manson picks up with delving deeper into nihilism. This time though he speaks to the ever rising nihilistic outlook of the youth of today. Explaining that has we become more and more connected on the internet, and we see more and more of the horrors of the world placed alongside meaningless videos of cats, the more and more we lean toward the idea that nothing is worth it, that nothing has meaning.
Manson cautions against the nihilistic approach to life by juxtaposing it with hope.
Hope he writes is necessary for human life and survival - that without it, there is quite literally nothing to live or strive for. The idea of having no goals, no ambitions, or no dreams may resonate with some but for most people on the planet, they tend to have some goal or ambition or dream. Those things become the driving force behind their everyday life. Now the goal does not have to be extravagant - it can be simple like to provide for my family or live until I’m 75.
But it is this driving force that gives meaning to our days, to our weeks, years and lives. If we were to strip all of that away, then we are left with no reason to do anything at all. If you have lived with major depression, this hopelessness may be an all too raw feeling.
Hope is needed because hope is part of the foundation of our goals, ambitions and dreams. We have a certain degree of hope when we set our alarm clocks that we are going to wake up in the morning. We have a certain degree of hope that our loved ones will help take care of us when we are sick, especially if we have been there to support them.
Manson’s book is a book about hope for this reason, he circles back to the idea of hope not only as a reason to care about something but as a reason for our own humanity. Humanity of course being pulled more and more into questions as we reach closer to the Ai singularity.
This mind warp was inspiring and insightful. It served as a good reminder to not get bogged down by the oppression of 24/7 news and to live. If you need that as a reminder right now, then this book is for you.