Status anxiety
This is a book about an almost universal anxiety that rarely gets mentioned directly: an anxiety about what others think of us; about whether we’re judged a success or a failure, a winner or a loser. This is a book about status anxiety. We care about our status for a simple reason: because most people tend to be nice to us according to the amount of status we have (it is no coincidence that the first question we tend to be asked by new acquaintances is ‘ What do you do?’). With the help of philosophers, artists and writers, the book examines the origins of status anxiety (ranging from the consequences of the French Revolution to our secret dismay at the success of our friends), before revealing ingenious ways in which people have learnt to overcome their worries in their search for happiness. It aims not only to be entertaining, but wise and helpful as well.
Stats for nerds
15recommend
22mentions
20people
2008–2026years
77% recommend23% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- Thank you - I completely agree. We have so much more than our parents did.
Alain de Botton's book "Status Anxiety" is excellent about this topic, too.
- One thing that has been accentuated over the past few decades is the idea that you are responsible for your success. When you were poor, lacked means, or didn't have a good job, it was because the god of fortune didn't smile on you. Only the fortunate experienced success.
Now only losers are broke and live in crap towns, and winners drive expensive cars. With this idea in mind, calling it crap towns becomes an attack on the people, rather then the town itself.
This idea is thoroughly explored in Alain de Botton's "Status Anxiety"
- Alain De Botton has a fantastic book about this called "Status Anxiety"[1]. The book gave me a fresh perspective on how to avoid being trapped in the race to prove yourself to others.
[1]https://www.amazon.com/Status-Anxiety-Alain-Botton/dp/037572...
- I may be barking completely up the wrong tree here, but the first thing that came to my mind here was the situation described by Alain de Botton in Status Anxiety: namely spending a lifetime pursuing goals and values belonging to OTHER people (e.g. parents, society, etc), rather than your own. Then you achieve all these goals only to realise, what now.
Great book, well worth a read.
As an aside (same caveat about barking and trees), perhaps you just need a sabbatical. If you can afford it financially, there's nothing wrong with it, and can help you refocus.
- If you found this article interesting, I can highly recommend the book (and documentary) "Status Anxiety", by modern philosopher Alain de Botton.
The video has a couple of gems, such as the comparisson between an english country-side vicar, and an american TV preacher.
- If you are interested in this subject, I would recommend 'The Architecture of Happiness' by Alain De Botton, and 'Status Anxiety' (even though the a later is not focused on architecture, it is complimentary).
The books were also made into documentaries that are available on Alain De Bottom's YouTube channel.
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