Audiobook6 hours
Dancing with the Devil: Why Bad Feelings Make Life Good
Written by Krista K. Thomason
Narrated by Coleen Marlo
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
()
About this audiobook
We tend to think about bad feelings-feelings like anger, envy, spite, and contempt-as the weeds in life's garden. You may not be able to get rid of them completely, but you're supposed to battle them as best you can. The best garden is one with no weeds. The best life is one with no bad feelings. But this isn't quite right, according to philosopher Krista K. Thomason. Bad feelings are the worms, not the weeds. They're just below the surface, and we like to pretend they aren't there, but they serve an important purpose.
Thomason draws on insights from the history of philosophy to show what we've gotten wrong about bad feelings and to show listeners how we can live better with them. There is nothing wrong with negative emotions per se. Negative emotions are expressions of self-love-not egoism or selfishness, but the felt attachment to ourselves and to our lives. We feel negative emotions because our lives matter to us. After explaining this, Thomason helps us look at individual bad feelings: anger, envy and jealousy, spite and Schadenfreude, and contempt. As she demonstrates in this tour of negative emotions, these feelings are valuable parts of our attachment to our lives. We don't have to battle negative emotions or "channel" them into something productive. Bad feelings aren't obstacles to a good life; they are part of what makes life meaningful.
Thomason draws on insights from the history of philosophy to show what we've gotten wrong about bad feelings and to show listeners how we can live better with them. There is nothing wrong with negative emotions per se. Negative emotions are expressions of self-love-not egoism or selfishness, but the felt attachment to ourselves and to our lives. We feel negative emotions because our lives matter to us. After explaining this, Thomason helps us look at individual bad feelings: anger, envy and jealousy, spite and Schadenfreude, and contempt. As she demonstrates in this tour of negative emotions, these feelings are valuable parts of our attachment to our lives. We don't have to battle negative emotions or "channel" them into something productive. Bad feelings aren't obstacles to a good life; they are part of what makes life meaningful.
Related to Dancing with the Devil
Related audiobooks
The Uses of Delusion: Why It's Not Always Rational to Be Rational Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Quantum Bullsh*t: How to Ruin Your Life with Advice from Quantum Physics Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wonderstruck: How Wonder and Awe Shape the Way We Think Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSummary of Kyle Chayka's Filterworld Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTouching a Nerve: The Self As Brain Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5For F*ck's Sake: Why Swearing is Shocking, Rude, and Fun Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe World Behind the World: Consciousness, Free Will, and the Limits of Science Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The End of Solitude: Selected Essays on Culture and Society Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNight Vision: Seeing Ourselves through Dark Moods Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Majority Minority Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKingdom of Play: What Ball-bouncing Octopuses, Belly-flopping Monkeys, and Mud-sliding Elephants Reveal about Life Itself Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWe Become What We Normalize: What We Owe Each Other in Worlds That Demand Our Silence Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNever Say Die: The Myth and Marketing of the New Old Age Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Modern Myths: Adventures in the Machinery of the Popular Imagination Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Love, Sex and Other Foreign Policy Goals Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Fit Nation: The Gains and Pains of America's Exercise Obsession Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Losing Our Minds: The Challenge of Defining Mental Illness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Suffering-Focused Ethics: Defense and Implications Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSelfless: The Social Creation of “You” Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Internet Is Not What You Think It Is: A History, a Philosophy, a Warning Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The World's Best Classic Short Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On Browsing Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Future of Feeling: Building Empathy in a Tech-Obsessed World Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Human Predicament: A Candid Guide to Life's Biggest Questions Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRethinking Intelligence: A Radical New Understanding of Our Human Potential Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Big 100 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow to Kill an Earworm: And 500+ Other Psychology Facts You Need to Know Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Genetic Lottery: Why DNA Matters for Social Equality Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Personal Growth For You
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The 48 Laws of Power Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Summary: Atomic Habits by James Clear: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Boundaries: When To Say Yes, How to Say No Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5It Starts with Self-Compassion: A Practical Road Map Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Unfu*k Yourself: Get Out of Your Head and into Your Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Highly Sensitive Person Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Do the Work: Recognize Your Patterns, Heal from Your Past, and Create Your Self Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Think Like a Monk: Train Your Mind for Peace and Purpose Every Day Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Outwitting the Devil: The Secret to Freedom and Success Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Man's Search For Meaning Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Courage to Be Disliked: How to Free Yourself, Change Your Life, and Achieve Real Happiness Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5What Happened to You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Becoming Supernatural: How Common People Are Doing The Uncommon Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Finding Me: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Do Hard Things: Why We Get Resilience Wrong and the Surprising Science of Real Toughness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Paris: The Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life with the Heart of a Buddha Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Perfection Trap: Embracing the Power of Good Enough Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Banish Your Inner Critic: Silence the Voice of Self-Doubt to Unleash Your Creativity and Do Your Best Work Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Dancing with the Devil
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings
0 ratings0 reviews