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georgieem 's review for:
101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think
by Brianna Wiest
I picked this up because I wanted to be challenged. Instead, it was a revamp of stoicism mixed with zen Buddhism, a sprinkling of Daoism, and a scientific sheen of "we know this is the Truth now". Sure.
If this helps you, cool.
I, for one, was consistently annoyed at Wiest's constant assertions of "You assume..." and "You feel..." only to be off the mark. These are not new ideas, and many times she makes assertions that feel laughably hollow. To me, the height of this is when she claims, "Avoid making definitive claims about people, politics, or ideas", and proceeds to do exactly that. This is a journalist, and when she speaks on psychology and philosophy, they feel shallow -- probably because they aren't the areas she was actually educated in. She is, however, a good writer which makes sense.
For me, the most concerning parts of this book are how self-focused they are. Self-care is important, my issue is more with the lack of recognition of the role of community. Internalizing a locus of control that emphasizes your own power can be helpful. But that is not the be-all, end-all.
I'm glad Wiest found a way of viewing the world that helps her, but she is out of her depth when trying to form a consistent philosophical perspective, and her active ignoring of real systematic factors like racism, sexism, abelism, etc. Makes it hard for me to treat her views as applicable to the real world.
If this helps you, cool.
I, for one, was consistently annoyed at Wiest's constant assertions of "You assume..." and "You feel..." only to be off the mark. These are not new ideas, and many times she makes assertions that feel laughably hollow. To me, the height of this is when she claims, "Avoid making definitive claims about people, politics, or ideas", and proceeds to do exactly that. This is a journalist, and when she speaks on psychology and philosophy, they feel shallow -- probably because they aren't the areas she was actually educated in. She is, however, a good writer which makes sense.
For me, the most concerning parts of this book are how self-focused they are. Self-care is important, my issue is more with the lack of recognition of the role of community. Internalizing a locus of control that emphasizes your own power can be helpful. But that is not the be-all, end-all.
I'm glad Wiest found a way of viewing the world that helps her, but she is out of her depth when trying to form a consistent philosophical perspective, and her active ignoring of real systematic factors like racism, sexism, abelism, etc. Makes it hard for me to treat her views as applicable to the real world.