Book 2, Post 2
When scrolling through the second book options, I really wanted to choose a novel that resonated with me. As I scrolled through the “Best Books and Essential Reads from Yes! Magazine”, specifically the novels from the subheader “The Science of Creating a Compassionate World”, Ruth Whippman’s title immediately jumped out to me. Worry, anxiety, and nervousness are some things I find can overwhelmingly fill my days as it does for many college students. The notion of happiness has always intrigued me as it is something nearly impossible to measure– and Whippman somehow finds a way to verbalize this perplexing concept. I was excited to explore this “new normal” of stress Whippman describes as embedded in American culture and our attempt to constantly pursue happiness that leads to our anxiety.
Many have critiqued Whipmann’s story as she is a Britian-born writer and is expressing her commentary on the American culture. In my opinion, as an outsider, I find she gained a perspective on the notion that Americans overlook and don’t even realize is a prominent issue in society. What I found interesting is that many Brits are actually seen as negative a cynical compared to other cultures and, although Whipmann acknowledges this, she stood by her view of Americans with intense anxiety about all aspects of their lives. She sources these anxieties from Americans being culturally preoccupied with the idea of happiness, more specifically of finding happiness. The belief was that each individual had to be as happy as they could be. One of my favorite quotes she used to represent this idea is “Mindfulness starts to feel like a tiny, teeny, Band-Aid on a much, much bigger problem.
One of my favorite points made by Whipmann was her critique of the American psychology movements and the industry involved. She expanded on her discoveries about the sources of funding for a multitude of studies that promoted the supposed “positive psychology movement”. The $10 billion industry is corrupted by researchers who misinterpret and overstate data in order to benefit the industry/brands. They masque this sense of hope through “the guide of happiness”. The 24-7 happiness they tell us to find is not achievable or realistic. It's important to acknowledge that both positive and negative emotions have value and they help us teach things about ourselves. In all, Whipmann through this novel attempts to educate Americans that we are not truly addressing the actual problem. She teaches us to let the current version of ourselves be happy, not some far-off idea of a perfect version of ourselves.
This was a really interesting read and a good summary of what you learnt from the book, great job! I will say that I agree with this 100% in a sense that false happiness is the saddest thing in-itself. I think its really interesting but this idea of happiness is some how tied into consumerism which is very much pushed by the American agenda - because to reach certain levels of happiness you have to purchase or be apart of certain type of things. I think that this idea of being in a constant dopamine state is overwhelming is the foundational cause to many anxiety and nervous ridden people in the US as there is constant pressure to look, act, and feel a certain way. I could go on and on about this but overall a very good summary :)
ReplyDeleteHi Ava, I did not read America the Anxious so your post was interesting in covering the dynamics that affect our society. I think that I agree with Whipmann that the psychology industry in America can be dangerous but I overall disagree that the pursuit of happiness in America is a special source of anxiety.
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