![]() ![]() For Brooks, that question inevitably surfaces, however, leading to a crisis of meaning (33), amidst loneliness and distrust, and sometimes taking ugly turns, including toward tribalism, which combats loneliness with group membership based on hate. But individuals invariably challenge this culture - as Brooks’s generation did - and so the moral ecology of the 1950s, for example, which respected authority and duty, gave way to a culture of “do your own thing,” individualism and autonomy (10), with the dream of “total freedom” (11), placing achievement and self-realization over sacrifice and relationships.ĭespite the excitement of this challenge to the moral ecology, Brooks notes that many eventually felt lost – “floundering in a formless desert” because few had actually asked: “What is freedom for?” (15) Young people in particular were left in “The Big Swim to Nowhere,” or were leading “The Aesthetic Life,” bumping from one experience to the next – all adding up to nothing (18), but nevertheless always on display in “the insta-gram life.” The point seemed to be busy - explained by what Brooks calls the insecure over-achiever – but to never ask, “Why am I doing this?” (22). Brooks claims that, “We all grew up in one moral ecology of another” (4). It starts with the concept of a “moral ecology” or the culture given to us as we navigate life. Part I (“The Two Mountains”) posits a timeline for both the individual and society. ![]() The Introduction closes by having the reader take joy seriously - describing its different levels (moral joy, spiritual joy) and, crucially, by distinguishing between happiness – a victory for the self - and joy – the forgetting of oneself (xxiv): “Happiness is the proper goal for people on their first mountain … But we only get one life, so we might as well use it hunting for big game: to enjoy happiness, but to surpass happiness toward joy” (xxxiii). This will involve a retreat from the “ambitious, strategic and independent” to an embrace of the “relational, intimate and relentless” (xvi). ![]() At one point, Brooks says, “We live in a culture of hyper-individualism,” that has swung too far toward “the self” and which needs to “rebalance” (xvii) and by so doing can help people lead a “deeper and more joyful life” (xxiii). This is not just about the self, however, but the larger context of culture. The book’s Introduction explains: “If the first mountain is about building up the ego and defining the self, the second mountain is about shedding the ego and losing the self” (xvi). He then details and discusses the components of this second and superior stage in Parts II through V, under the umbrella title of “The Four Commitments,” – specifically: Vocation, Marriage, Philosophy and Faith, and, finally, Community. After that, however, the realization hits: Is there not something more? For Brooks, there is: It is called the “Second Mountain,” and this life stage is dedicated to others through one’s vocation and commitments, including intellectual and religious commitments, as well as the more intimate commitments – to one’s marriage - and the more societal commitments – to one’s community.īrooks traces this trajectory in five parts, starting with Part I, “The Two Mountains,” which is a description of the First Mountain and how individuals can be consumed by its pull, but then find themselves inevitably ready for a second climb. In his self-help book, The Second Mountain, former New York Times columnist and news commentator David Brooks shares his musings on the highs and lows of life – both professional and personal – from the vantage point of an older, wiser and more reflective self: One’s 20s, 30s and 40s comprise what Brooks calls the “First Mountain,” dedicated to career, finance, reputation and achievement. The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life. The following version of this book was used to create this guide: Brooks, David.
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