Mark Leary made, in my opinion, one of the greatest books I ever read. The Curse of the Self begins with Leary imagining himself giving a commencement address to his graduate students in which he explains that they will be the cause of their own unhappiness, as that is the natural design of the human mind (Leary, 2004). He explains the different theories that others have proposed regarding the differences between humans and all other animals, including the use of tools, language, and intelligence. Though we are far more advanced in these fields, he claims that the most striking difference between humans and animals is the ability to think consciously about ourselves, which is his definition of the "self" (Leary, 2004). In the very first part of the book, Leary explains why the self is the main reason why humans are far more advanced than every other animal, and the various positives about the self, including but not limited to our advanced decision making skills. Though the self is a great evolutionary adaptation, the entire rest of the book is focused on how the self is also the reason why humans face so many and various forms of suffering, that other animals could not even dream of comprehending, hence it is called The Curse of the Self. Throughout the book, Leary brings in hordes of research that supports his claims, and also gives great insight as to how these different mechanisms evolved. This is a great addition in my opinion, as he hypothesizes why these mechanisms were useful at the time, and now that times are far different than when these mechanisms first adapted, they are no longer relevant, and actually can cause psychological harm to people.
The reason I chose this book was because I learned about the self in my social psychology class, and the topic is probably my favorite in the field of psychology. I find the self-concept to be fascinating, and now that I have read this book I have a much better understanding of how it works, how it evolved and came to be the self as we know it now. This was a great choice, and though there were many other good books on the list, I really feel that The Curse of the Self wields information that is essential for not just people in academia, but for anyone who wants to gain a better understanding of the human mind. I highly recommend this book to anyone that has a serious interest in psychology, or to anyone that has intentions of gaining a greater understanding of human psychology. Even though Leary does bring in studies and concepts that the common person probably wouldn't get at first, he masterfully explains everything in detail in a very easy to understand language. He uses examples to illustrate each concept to the reader, sometimes even using personal examples so the readers can relate. I definitely recommend this book to everyone in my social psychology class, as even though we have discussed many of these concepts in class, Leary explains how they (plus others) add to this negative aspect in the self, as well as some hypotheses of their origin.
The reason I enjoyed reading The Curse of the Self so much was probably because the material it teaches is so applicable to everyday life. For example, there is an entire chapter of the book that is focused on how the self can make us miserable and depressed. One form of this is as we all know is worry. Worry can only occur in humans, because in order for one to worry about what might happen tomorrow or next week, the self is required (Leary, 2004). The problem with worrying is that it is mostly unnecessary as people tend to worry about events where the act of worrying does not, or can not change the outcome of the situation. I found this to be particularly applicable and important information that Leary shares in the book, because now I understand that worrying about a test, or any other unpredictable future situation isn't going to change the outcome whatsoever, thus making worrying a pointless thought process. One great example that Leary uses in the book connects the self to violent and aggressive behaviors. In the example, he explains that road rage occurs completely due to the self interpreting peoples' actions as directed against itself, therefore resulting in meaningless actions (such as cutting off, or not letting you merge into the lane) as personal attacks (Leary, 2004). He also goes on to explain that a) if someone does something that you think is disrespectful, it probably wasn't directed at you, and b) even if it was directed at you, getting angry is pointless as it doesn't solve the problem (Leary, 2004).
Dr. Mark Leary is a professor of psychology at Duke University, and is part of the APA as well as the Society for Psychology and Social Psychology. He was the former president of the International Society for Self and Identity, and was ranked in the top 25 most productive scholars in psychology by the Institute for Scientific Information (Leary, 2004). As you can probably tell by his credentials, if there was one person that could qualify to write this book, it would be him. By his explanations of each of the various topics discussed in the book, you can understand the depth of his knowledge on the subject. Also, as mentioned previously, the book is written very well, especially in the way Leary approaches the different topics, and sub-topics. Studies are brought in as evidence for every claim he makes, which goes to show that Leary is very scholarly.
Every part of the book was interesting to read in some way or another, but the part I enjoyed the most was when Leary started to explain tie the concepts of the self in with Buddhism and other Eastern religions/philosophy. Leary explained that all Buddhism really is, is a set of techniques (including but not limited to meditation) that are used to help the individual "quite" the self (Leary, 2004). Some of the Buddhist teachings explain that the self is the only thing that separates individuals, and when we lose the self we are all one, and at that point we reach the highest state of mind, also known as "nirvana". Many of the Buddhist teachings stemmed from Hinduism, which preaches very similar teachings, but in a different way. The main strength of the book is that it doesn't leave the reader puzzled as to deal with this curse that the self creates. Instead, Leary talks about the origins of the curse, the evidence to prove that these issues exist, as well as how to deal with many of the problems. He ends the book with 4 solutions that can be used to help prevent many of the negative attributes of the self. In a way, this book is the best self-help book you can get. Personally, I find that the way he explains how to overcome many of the negative emotional aspects that the self can cause was the most important section of the book, however people could benefit from the information concerning insomnia. He explains that insomnia is a "self-inflicted" phenomena, and can be cured by controlling the self-chatter that goes on during these periods (Leary, 2004).
I also learned very interesting information about the practice of Zen, that Leary briefly wrote about. I've always been fascinated with koans, which are short passages or stories that are meant to transcend rational meaning. Most of them are extremely confusing, as that is their nature, and because of this I've literally hurt my head trying to figure them out. Leary writes about the purpose of koans, which he explains is to stop the students of Zen to guide their interpretations using the self, and instead step back and look at it from every angle (Leary, 2004). The students' self is going to inevitably give up trying to find meaning in the koan, and in turn gains a better understanding of the world (Leary, 2004).
Honestly, there were no shortcomings to this book that I can think of. Perhaps some concepts might be too difficult for the layperson to understand, but other than that, there seems to be no flaw in this book at all. Anybody with at least a basic understanding of psychology should be able to read this book with ease. Not even the book itself is long, or the average chapter length. The book consists of 200 pages, and each chapter is only around 20 pages long, which makes it really easy to read in my opinion (I hate long chapters!).
If I could narrow this book down into one "take home" point then I would say that The Curse of the Self is a book that explains the origins, complications, and solutions of the human mind, the part of us that makes us the most unique creatures on the planet.
Word Count: 1502
Reference
Leary, M. (2004). The curse of the self: Self-awareness, egotism, and the quality of human life. New
York: Oxford University Press.
The reason I chose this book was because I learned about the self in my social psychology class, and the topic is probably my favorite in the field of psychology. I find the self-concept to be fascinating, and now that I have read this book I have a much better understanding of how it works, how it evolved and came to be the self as we know it now. This was a great choice, and though there were many other good books on the list, I really feel that The Curse of the Self wields information that is essential for not just people in academia, but for anyone who wants to gain a better understanding of the human mind. I highly recommend this book to anyone that has a serious interest in psychology, or to anyone that has intentions of gaining a greater understanding of human psychology. Even though Leary does bring in studies and concepts that the common person probably wouldn't get at first, he masterfully explains everything in detail in a very easy to understand language. He uses examples to illustrate each concept to the reader, sometimes even using personal examples so the readers can relate. I definitely recommend this book to everyone in my social psychology class, as even though we have discussed many of these concepts in class, Leary explains how they (plus others) add to this negative aspect in the self, as well as some hypotheses of their origin.
The reason I enjoyed reading The Curse of the Self so much was probably because the material it teaches is so applicable to everyday life. For example, there is an entire chapter of the book that is focused on how the self can make us miserable and depressed. One form of this is as we all know is worry. Worry can only occur in humans, because in order for one to worry about what might happen tomorrow or next week, the self is required (Leary, 2004). The problem with worrying is that it is mostly unnecessary as people tend to worry about events where the act of worrying does not, or can not change the outcome of the situation. I found this to be particularly applicable and important information that Leary shares in the book, because now I understand that worrying about a test, or any other unpredictable future situation isn't going to change the outcome whatsoever, thus making worrying a pointless thought process. One great example that Leary uses in the book connects the self to violent and aggressive behaviors. In the example, he explains that road rage occurs completely due to the self interpreting peoples' actions as directed against itself, therefore resulting in meaningless actions (such as cutting off, or not letting you merge into the lane) as personal attacks (Leary, 2004). He also goes on to explain that a) if someone does something that you think is disrespectful, it probably wasn't directed at you, and b) even if it was directed at you, getting angry is pointless as it doesn't solve the problem (Leary, 2004).
Dr. Mark Leary is a professor of psychology at Duke University, and is part of the APA as well as the Society for Psychology and Social Psychology. He was the former president of the International Society for Self and Identity, and was ranked in the top 25 most productive scholars in psychology by the Institute for Scientific Information (Leary, 2004). As you can probably tell by his credentials, if there was one person that could qualify to write this book, it would be him. By his explanations of each of the various topics discussed in the book, you can understand the depth of his knowledge on the subject. Also, as mentioned previously, the book is written very well, especially in the way Leary approaches the different topics, and sub-topics. Studies are brought in as evidence for every claim he makes, which goes to show that Leary is very scholarly.
Every part of the book was interesting to read in some way or another, but the part I enjoyed the most was when Leary started to explain tie the concepts of the self in with Buddhism and other Eastern religions/philosophy. Leary explained that all Buddhism really is, is a set of techniques (including but not limited to meditation) that are used to help the individual "quite" the self (Leary, 2004). Some of the Buddhist teachings explain that the self is the only thing that separates individuals, and when we lose the self we are all one, and at that point we reach the highest state of mind, also known as "nirvana". Many of the Buddhist teachings stemmed from Hinduism, which preaches very similar teachings, but in a different way. The main strength of the book is that it doesn't leave the reader puzzled as to deal with this curse that the self creates. Instead, Leary talks about the origins of the curse, the evidence to prove that these issues exist, as well as how to deal with many of the problems. He ends the book with 4 solutions that can be used to help prevent many of the negative attributes of the self. In a way, this book is the best self-help book you can get. Personally, I find that the way he explains how to overcome many of the negative emotional aspects that the self can cause was the most important section of the book, however people could benefit from the information concerning insomnia. He explains that insomnia is a "self-inflicted" phenomena, and can be cured by controlling the self-chatter that goes on during these periods (Leary, 2004).
I also learned very interesting information about the practice of Zen, that Leary briefly wrote about. I've always been fascinated with koans, which are short passages or stories that are meant to transcend rational meaning. Most of them are extremely confusing, as that is their nature, and because of this I've literally hurt my head trying to figure them out. Leary writes about the purpose of koans, which he explains is to stop the students of Zen to guide their interpretations using the self, and instead step back and look at it from every angle (Leary, 2004). The students' self is going to inevitably give up trying to find meaning in the koan, and in turn gains a better understanding of the world (Leary, 2004).
Honestly, there were no shortcomings to this book that I can think of. Perhaps some concepts might be too difficult for the layperson to understand, but other than that, there seems to be no flaw in this book at all. Anybody with at least a basic understanding of psychology should be able to read this book with ease. Not even the book itself is long, or the average chapter length. The book consists of 200 pages, and each chapter is only around 20 pages long, which makes it really easy to read in my opinion (I hate long chapters!).
If I could narrow this book down into one "take home" point then I would say that The Curse of the Self is a book that explains the origins, complications, and solutions of the human mind, the part of us that makes us the most unique creatures on the planet.
Word Count: 1502
Reference
Leary, M. (2004). The curse of the self: Self-awareness, egotism, and the quality of human life. New
York: Oxford University Press.
I really enjoyed reading your post. The content that you highlighted really makes me interested in reading this book. I find if very intriguing that Leary used evolutionary theories of adaption to illustrate how certain mechanisms that were important to our survival are now detrimental to our health. I know that our consumption of fatty foods was once adaptive but now that we live in more stable environments with stable access to food, this consumption has led to obesity, so I am interested to see what kind of mechanisms Leary talks about. Furthermore, I liked that you talk about some of the techniques (e.g., Zen) that Leary mentions may help “quite the self” and prevent further negative consequences. I am not naturally a worrier, but after a certain incident occurs (such as my never damage getting triggered) I definitely start worrying about everything and it seems that I can’t stop these thoughts. So it’s a relief to know that Leary provides potential solutions to acts such as worrying. I agree with you that the solutions sections of a book is probably one of the most important and useful part of these types of book. It would suck if the reader walked away feeling completely hopeless about this curse; luckily these psychologists know what they are doing. Once again, great job on your post. I am glad you enjoyed your book choice.
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