Status Anxiety
by Alain de Botton
De Botton on the modern worry about where we stand: its causes (lovelessness, expectation, meritocracy, snobbery, dependence) and its solutions (philosophy, art, politics, religion, bohemia). It is elegant, historically rich and consoling, and it shows that the anxiety is a product of ideas that can be examined.
Read it if…
you measure yourself against others constantly and want to understand why and what helps.
Skip it if…
you want tactics; this is cultural philosophy.
Three things you will actually use
- Meritocracy makes failure feel deserved; it is not that simple.
- Choose whose opinion counts.
- Art and philosophy offer alternative scales of value.
Do this first
Identify whose opinion you are actually anxious about and ask whether you respect their judgment.
Our verdict
Elegant and consoling.
Compare with other Mindset books
The School of Life: An Emotional Education
The School of Life, introduced by Alain de Botton · Mindset
Elegant and humane.
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