The Wisdom of Insecurity: A Message for an Age of Anxiety

Alan W. Watts

Vintage Books USA

2011

152 páginas

5h 4m

ISBN-13: 9780307741202

Suggests that the best way to achieve security in life is to let go of the anxiety associated with the past and future, understand and accept the limits of technology and science, and to focus on the present moment.

Resenhas (1)

THE WISDOM OF INSECURITY

This is the kind of book that I know I’ll return to in the future for further reflection.l
“𝐵𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑡 𝑤𝑒 𝑑𝑜 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑖𝑡 𝑢𝑝, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑒𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑖𝑡, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑑, 𝑙𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑑, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑟𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑. 𝑊𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑖𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑖𝑡 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒. 𝑊𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑖𝑛 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑥𝑖𝑒𝑡𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚”.
I’ve thought about these statements, and I couldn’t agree more. It is so easy for us to transform something that was initially good and benevolent into something that drags us into a life full of anxiety and insecurities.

“𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑚𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑠 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑟𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑠𝑝 𝑖𝑡”
this idea is discussed throughout the entire book. It is clear how much importance the author gives to not overthinking life and forgetting to actually live it, to letting go of the past (which has no power unless we give it power in our present lives) and not getting blinded by the future (which does not exist in the present moment) by doing this, we would live a blessed life with open minds.
Memories and expectations have their concepts, power, and outcomes analyzed accurately
“𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑢𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑎𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑡. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑖𝑙𝑦 𝑢𝑛𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 “𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑢𝑝” 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑢𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑒”
here, the author not only mentions this but also explains the importance that remembering and predicting have in our lives. However, he does not shy away from pointing out how damaging these two things can be if they are not used wisely and properly.

“𝑁𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑛ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑙𝑠”
this is an interesting critique of people who give bread in order to appear charitable and all the other superficial actions they perform to ease inner suffering.

“…𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑎 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑢𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑚𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒”
the author explains that everyone has love within themselves and encourages us not to become blinded by self-love in a selfish way, after all, no one has a self that is separate from others to love exclusively.
While reading, I couldn’t help but notice that some aspects, ideas, and language were quite repetitive (the author used “on one hand… on the other hand” several times, sometimes even within the same chapter). However, I must say that some ideas were paramount and insightful, even if repetitive.
This book contains many ideas about science and God (which, I must confess, was my least favorite part for personal reasons), as this is the author’s field of study.
By far, my favorite topics were the brain and consciousness.
“𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑙’𝑠 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑢𝑙𝑙, ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝𝑠 𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝. 𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛 ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑠 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑎𝑠 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒, ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙𝑠 𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑡𝑦, ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑠 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙𝑠 𝑎𝑛 𝑢𝑟𝑔𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑓𝑢𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛. 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑑𝑢𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑛𝑥𝑖𝑒𝑡𝑦, 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤𝑙𝑒𝑑𝑔𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑎 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑖𝑠 𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑠 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑎𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛. 𝐼𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑑𝑢𝑒, 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜, 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤𝑙𝑒𝑑𝑔𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡, 𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑, 𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑙𝑜𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑢𝑙𝑙, 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑖𝑡 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠 𝑣𝑖𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑔𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛.”
this is such a highly debated topic because it is clear how intense and significant the role of anxiety is in our eating habits.
“𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙, 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑜𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑢𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒.”
This is, without a shed of doubt, the main purpose of this book, as aforementioned, the author use other topics such as brain, god versus science, pain and time and creative morality to support his idea of the importance of living the present in a conscious and healthy manner, leaving the past and not worrying and projecting the future tense.

This is, without a shred of a doubt, the main purpose of the book. As aforementioned, the author uses other topics such as the brain, God versus science, pain and time, and creative morality to support his idea of the importance of living in the present in a conscious and healthy manner, leaving the past behind and not worrying excessively about projecting the future.