The Fear of Insignificance: Searching for Meaning in the Twenty-First Century [Paperback]

This book shows how, after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the Gospel of the free market became the only world-religion of universal validity. The belief that all value needs to be quantifiable was extended?to?human beings, whose value became dependent on their rating on the various ranking-scales in the global infotainment system.Introduction: Our Historical Moment PART I: THE DEFEAT OF MIND The Years of the Golden Calf 'Just do it', the Celebrity Culture and the Designed Self The Defeat of Mind: Relativism and Pop-Spirituality PART II: FROM THE I-COMMODITY TO THE DRAMA OF INDIVIDUALITY The Drama of Individuality From 'Just do it!' to Active Self Acceptance Paring Down Life to the Essentials: An Epicurean Proposal PART III: RECLAIMING OUR MINDS Escaping the Platonic Cave Religion and Science: Civilized Disdain and Epicurean Laughter Towards World-Citizenship and a Coalition of Open Worldviews

The Fear of Insignificance is the type of book that can change your life. . .because Strenger presents his theories in mind-opening ways. . .[he] defends the liberal's right to a firmly entrenched worldview opposed to others, as opposed to fashionable relativist postmodernism. Strenger encourages the reader to create meaning autonomously and not shy away from the painful work involved in becoming a genuine individual. - Rana Verbin:. Haaretz, Best Books of the Year. June 6 2010

Carlo Strenger. . .creates a wide ranging interpretation, not only of the situation of today's individual, but of global developments that affect us all. . .Gradually a tragic picture of Homo globalis evolves; locked into illusions without being able to see the bars of the cage. . .Part of the book's fascination resides in Strenger's search for a new balance that will help the reader to deal with the human fear of death. . .Strenger succeeds with great sensitivity in presenting the stories of inspiring people who have succeeded in escaping the suffering created by the sl3Y