The Comfort Crisis - BOOKS.HCCP.ORG

283 pages

English language

Published May 11, 2021

ISBN:: 9780593138762

(1 review)

In many ways, we’re more comfortable than ever before. But could our sheltered, temperature-controlled, overfed, under-challenged lives actually be the leading cause of many of our most urgent physical and mental health issues? In this gripping investigation, award-winning journalist Michael Easter seeks out off-the-grid visionaries, disruptive genius researchers, and mind-body conditioning trailblazers who are unlocking the life-enhancing secrets of a counterintuitive solution: discomfort.

Easter’s journey to understand our evolutionary need to be challenged takes him to meet the NBA’s top exercise scientist, who uses an ancient Japanese practice to build championship athletes; to the mystical country of Bhutan, where an Oxford economist and Buddhist leader are showing the world what death can teach us about happiness; to the outdoor lab of a young neuroscientist who’s found that nature tests our physical and mental endurance in ways that expand creativity while taming burnout and anxiety; to the remote Alaskan backcountry on …

In many ways, we’re more comfortable than ever before. But could our sheltered, temperature-controlled, overfed, under-challenged lives actually be the leading cause of many of our most urgent physical and mental health issues? In this gripping investigation, award-winning journalist Michael Easter seeks out off-the-grid visionaries, disruptive genius researchers, and mind-body conditioning trailblazers who are unlocking the life-enhancing secrets of a counterintuitive solution: discomfort.

Easter’s journey to understand our evolutionary need to be challenged takes him to meet the NBA’s top exercise scientist, who uses an ancient Japanese practice to build championship athletes; to the mystical country of Bhutan, where an Oxford economist and Buddhist leader are showing the world what death can teach us about happiness; to the outdoor lab of a young neuroscientist who’s found that nature tests our physical and mental endurance in ways that expand creativity while taming burnout and anxiety; to the remote Alaskan backcountry on a demanding thirty-three-day hunting expedition to experience the rewilding secrets of one of the last rugged places on Earth; and more.

Along the way, Easter uncovers a blueprint for leveraging the power of discomfort that will dramatically improve our health and happiness, and perhaps even help us understand what it means to be human. The Comfort Crisis is a bold call to break out of your comfort zone and explore the wild within yourself.

1 edition

Courts reviewed The Comfort Crisis by Michael Easter

Decent Summary of Modern Comfort-Creep

3 stars

I have to admit, I was sceptical about the book. Especially since it directly starts with the whole "to experience the world as our ancestors did, you should go hunting" narrative, something that doesn't sit well with me. I'm still not fond of this narrative, especially since I don't eat meat myself. But at least he tried to inject an ethical view into it throughout the book, even though he himself has to admit at least in a half-sentence that maybe not everyone should go hunting. Which shows you the privileged position from which he is talking. On the other hand, of course he is writing from a privileged position, because why write about modern comfort-creep otherwise?

The rest is wisdom about different aspects of our modern lives and why we feel so unsatisfied with it in a pretty condensed form. I've encountered it all before, especially if you're into …

I have to admit, I was sceptical about the book. Especially since it directly starts with the whole "to experience the world as our ancestors did, you should go hunting" narrative, something that doesn't sit well with me. I'm still not fond of this narrative, especially since I don't eat meat myself. But at least he tried to inject an ethical view into it throughout the book, even though he himself has to admit at least in a half-sentence that maybe not everyone should go hunting. Which shows you the privileged position from which he is talking. On the other hand, of course he is writing from a privileged position, because why write about modern comfort-creep otherwise?

The rest is wisdom about different aspects of our modern lives and why we feel so unsatisfied with it in a pretty condensed form. I've encountered it all before, especially if you're into Stoic philosophy. However, it is a nice summary in an easy to read format. No more, no less.