The School of Life

What Hacker News says

1. nhodApr 2025
   This reminds me of one of my very favorite essays of all time, "Why You Will Marry the Wrong Person" by Alain de Botton from the School of Life. The title is somewhat misleading, and I resisted reading it for a couple years as a result. It is exquisite writing — it couldn't be said with fewer words, and adding more wouldn't help either — and an extraordinary and ultimately hopeful meditation on love and marriage.

   NYT Gift Article: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/29/opinion/sunday/why-you-wi...

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2. ArtWombDec 2020
   Glad to see this on here. Plenty of good comments. And I'd say there is no downside to spending a particular portion of your daily mental exertions wrestling with The Big Questions

   You won't find a better place to begin that the Alain de Botton School of Life series (though perhaps could use a more balanced Western to Eastern ratio). Start with Kant, see if it tempts your interest, and you should be able to consume the whole lot in a short sitting:

   https://www.youtube.com/c/theschooloflifetv/playlists

   For a deeper dive, there is a classic series of audio lectures that used to be sold via mail-order and arrive on cassette tapes! You can find many online (narrated in Charlton Heston's authoritative voice no less):

   https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLez3PPtnpncS8x4RUjlso...

   Then take to twitter to communicate directly with giants in the field: Slavoj Zizek, Daniel Dennett, Alva Noe, and many others are active

   https://twitter.com/PhilosophyNow

   And finally you'll be ready to dive into the Arxiv of Philosophy Papers: PhilPapers

   https://philpapers.org/

   Best of Luck, Rupi ;)

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3. emehexDec 2019
   • The Madness of Crowds by Douglas Murray

   • Consciousness by Annaka Harris

   • More From Less by Andrew McAffee

   • The School of Life: An Emotional Education

   • Perfect Sound Whatever by James Acaster

   • Humble Pi by Matt Parker

   • The Last Pirate of New York by Rich Cohen

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4. steve_adams_86Dec 2025
   The Burnout Society - Byung-Chul Han

   The Disappearance of Rituals - Byung-Chul Han

   Outlive - Peter Attia (This felt like a complete waste of attention)

   An Emotional Education - School of Life/Alain de Botton

   The Story of Your Life and Others - Ted Chiang

   Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind - Hayao Miyazaki

   Plants from Test Tubes - Lydiane Kyte; John Kleyn; Holly Scoggins; Mark Bridgen

   Some biography I've forgotten

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5. NzenApr 2025
   Alain de Botton also published this in video form, seven years ago [0]. If you want the cliff's notes, his School of Life channel has a shorter version [1].

   [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EvvPZFdjyk 22 minutes

   [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuKV2DI9-Jg 4 minutess

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6. simonebrunozziJul 2022
   The School of Life is really interesting, and I've read some of Alain De Botton's previous work. I still have to wrap my mind about whether I should really dive deep into his stuff, or not.

   Any of you knows his work extensively, and can provide an opinion?

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