In 1951, scholar-guru Alan Watts published a book called The Wisdom of Insecurity. No security is possible in this world, Watts said, and the quest to achieve it leads only to an anxiety about the future that prevents us from living in the present. The book was a precursor of the current philosophy of mindfulness that says more or less the same thing. (Watts was a pioneer in introducing Eastern religion and philosophy to a Western audience). But without wanting to be condescending, I wonder whether it is as relevant now as it was during an era of an era of peacetime affluence that is at times looked back upon with nostalgia, despite the paranoia of the Cold War and McCarthyism. Watts was addressing an “age of anxiety” that had lost traditional values but had nothing better to replace them with than consumerism. The anxiety he spoke of was a sense of emptiness amidst peace and plenty.
August 13, 2021
August 13, 2021
August 13, 2021
In 1951, scholar-guru Alan Watts published a book called The Wisdom of Insecurity. No security is possible in this world, Watts said, and the quest to achieve it leads only to an anxiety about the future that prevents us from living in the present. The book was a precursor of the current philosophy of mindfulness that says more or less the same thing. (Watts was a pioneer in introducing Eastern religion and philosophy to a Western audience). But without wanting to be condescending, I wonder whether it is as relevant now as it was during an era of an era of peacetime affluence that is at times looked back upon with nostalgia, despite the paranoia of the Cold War and McCarthyism. Watts was addressing an “age of anxiety” that had lost traditional values but had nothing better to replace them with than consumerism. The anxiety he spoke of was a sense of emptiness amidst peace and plenty.