Synopses & Reviews
In The Fear of Insignificance Carlo Strenger diagnoses the wide-spread fear of the global educated class of leading insignificant lives. Making use of cutting-edge psychological, philosophical, sociological, and economic theory, he shows how these fears are generated by infotainments craze for rating human beings. The book is a unique blend of an interpretation of the historical present and a poignant description of contemporary individual experience, anxiety, and hopes, in which Strenger makes use of his decades of clinical experience in existential psychotherapy. Without falling into the trap of simplistic self-help advice, Strenger shows how a process he calls active self-acceptance, together with serious intellectual investment in our worldviews, can provide us with stable identity and meaning.
Review
"I found Strenger's whole argument to be powerfully persuasive, even inspiring. The book will have a wide interdisciplinary appeal--e.g., to social philosophers, psychoanalytic therapists, sociologists, and students in all these fields. It should also have wide appeal within the educated public--for example, to all those who feel alarmed by the escalatingly grandiose and destructive escapist ideologies into which people of our era flee from the existential vulnerabilities exposed by the likes of global terrorism, global nuclear proliferation, global warming, and global economic collapse."--Robert D. Stolorow,
The Huffington Post“The Fear of Insignificance is the type of book that can change your life. . .because Strenger presents his theories in mind-opening ways. . .[he] defends the liberals right to a firmly entrenched worldview opposed to others, as opposed to fashionable relativist postmodernism. Strenger encourages the reader to create meaning autonomously and not shy away from the painful work involved in becoming a genuine individual.”--Rana Verbin:. Haaretz, Best Books of the Year. June 6 2010
“Carlo Strenger. . .creates a wide ranging interpretation, not only of the situation of todays individual, but of global developments that affect us all. . .Gradually a tragic picture of Homo globalis evolves; locked into illusions without being able to see the bars of the cage. . .Part of the books fascination resides in Strengers search for a new balance that will help the reader to deal with the human fear of death. . .Strenger succeeds with great sensitivity in presenting the stories of inspiring people who have succeeded in escaping the suffering created by the social precept of measuring their worth through rating scales, as if they reflected the individuals true value.”--Iris Kalka, Haaretz
“This is an important book that integrates up to date knowledge in a number of disciplines lucidly. Its greatness resides is its precise diagnosis of the central problems of our times and in offering solutions that avoid flattery and instant redemption. . .Strengers main thesis is that we need to create lives of our own making rather than caving in to the demands of the global market that tries to turn us into uncritical and shallow consumers. . .Strenger calls for a culture of critical argumentation as an antidote to fashionable postmodern relativism.”--Avi Garfinkel, City Mouse
“Carlo Strengers The Fear of Insignificance gives a riveting description of the irrational belief that everything is possible, and that life must be spectacular--a factor that has contributed to the recent financial crisis. His diagnosis is compelling: no matter how much people achieve, they live in persistent doubt that their lives are of significance. His call for a deep, intellectual engagement with basic existential questions will provide many with a road towards a more stable sense of meaning.”--Nouriel Roubini, Professor of Economics, Stern School of Business, New York University; Chairman, Roubini Global Economics; and author of The Future of Crisis Economics
“In this lucid and ambitious book, Carlo Strenger illuminates the current plight of humanity through an innovative existential lens that offers practical hope for a better life. We live in a period in which humanity is about to self-destruct, yet our culture is busy ranking individuals according to their net-worth and celebrity rather than through their actual achievement. In his impassioned call for reason and for reflection on what in our lives is of real value, Strenger joins writers like Santayana, Camus, and Faulkner in embracing the awareness of tragedy and mortality, and he shows that this leads to both creativity and compassion and can be a lasting source of hope and happiness.”--Scott Atran, Presidential Scholar, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
“A hugely ambitious book that explores what it means to live a valuable life in the contemporary world. Fortunately, the author has the erudition, thoughtfulness, clarity, and the ability to draw both from his clinical practice and from the conclusions of many significant thinkers to offer a rich reward to the reader.”--Irvin Yalom, Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry, Stanford University, and author of Existential Psychotherapy; Love's Executioner; When Nietzsche Wept; and Staring into the Sun
Synopsis
This book shows how, after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the Gospel of the free market became the only world-religion of universal validity. The belief that all value needs to be quantifiable was extended to human beings, whose value became dependent on their rating on the various ranking-scales in the global infotainment system.
About the Author
Carlo Strenger is Chair of the Clinical Graduate Program of the Department of Psychology at Tel Aviv University. He serves on the Permanent Monitoring Panel on Terrorism of the World Federation of Scientists, the Seminar of Existential Psychoanalysis in Zurich, and the Scientific Board of the Sigmund Freud Foundation in Vienna, in addition to maintaining a part-time practice in existential psychoanalysis. Strenger's research focuses on the impact of globalization on identity and meaning. He has published five books, including The Designed Self. His work has been reported on and he has been interviewed by The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and Time Magazine, as well as hundreds of newspapers and websites in more than twenty languages. Strenger is an outspoken defender of Classical Liberalism, a critic of deteriorating norms in the public domain, and an advocate of a sane and just solution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He blogs on the Huffington Post and Haaretz, Israel's leading liberal newspaper, and writes regularly for Haaretz, The Guardian, Die Welt, and The New York Times.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Our Historical Moment * Part I: The Defeat of Mind * The Years of the Golden Calf * “Just do it”, the Celebrity Culture and the Designed Self * The Defeat of Mind: Relativism and Pop-Spirituality * Part II: From the I-Commodity to the Drama of Individuality * The Drama of Individuality * From “Just do it!” to Active Self Acceptance * Paring Down Life to the Essentials: An Epicurean Proposal * Part III: Reclaiming Our Minds * Escaping the Platonic Cave * Religion and Science: Civilized Disdain and Epicurean Laughter * Towards World-Citizenship and a Coalition of Open Worldviews