The art of living a meaningless existence : ideas from philosophy that change the way you think

My interest in philosophy started where I’d imagine it starts for most people: a dissatisfaction with what I had been told about life combined with a curiosity about what I had not. I remember the feeling when I first read a collection of essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson. I remember thinking yes, this is it. This is what I’ve been looking for. Then the same happened with Dostoyevsky, with Camus, with Schopenhauer, with Pessoa, with Wallace, and so on. Throughout my life, philosophy and literature have given me a way to confront my concerns, thoughts, questions, and doubts, without the tiptoeing and masquerading I often experienced in other areas of life and self-development. Continually, I found the earnestness of writers and thinkers providing me with a feeling of mutual respect and understanding because, for the first time, I felt I was being offered attempts at truth that were closer to my experience of life. They were bold, direct, and unwavering. Throughout the years, I’ve realized how common it is to feel like something is missing and that there must be more behind everything. So many of us feel as though we have been given a carcass of life, of meaning, that is covered by a blanket of falsity and ignorance. There is a need for a type of food that nourishes the mind and spirit—a food that people from all around the world and at all times in history have contributed small but notable servings of in the form of philosophy and art. As I’ve studied and learned more about these subjects, I’ve felt an increasing obligation to help provide for others what was provided to me: access to these crucial servings of intellectual sustenance. I’ve felt the need to translate, share, and contribute to the conversations I have had with books, films, videos, and art, as I understand them. This book is a collection of essays that have been written as part of this effort. A collection of essays that journey through philosophy and grapple with the increasingly relevant problem of finding meaning in what appears, for many of us, to be an inherently meaningless existence. Without any of the sugarcoating often found in the modern hyper-positive self-help genres, Robert Pantano attempts to provide the value of motivation and personal development through unwavering philosophical honesty. Studying and pulling from ideas in Stoicism, Existentialism, Nihilism, Absurdism, Buddhism, Taoism, and more, he combines his own thoughts with concepts from philosophy to create accessible, thought-provoking, and beautiful takeaways that will change the way you think about yourself, existence, and how to appreciate the absurdity of it all. Most of the essays contained in this book were originally published as videos seen by tens of millions of people on Pantano's popular YouTube channel, Pursuit of Wonder. Because of their popularity, he has created an organized collection of revised essays gathered in the form of this book. Not only have the essays been improved and revised, but Pantano has also added additional essays containing deeper insights about the overarching subjects covered and why he has personally found them valuable. Driven by a sense of doubt, skepticism, fascination, and a yearning for awe, The Art of Living a Meaningless Existence inspires readers to embark on their own pursuit of wonder . "Without any of the sugarcoating often found in the modern hyper-positive self-help genres, Robert Pantano attempts to provide the value of motivation and personal development through unwavering philosophical honesty. Studying and pulling from ideas in Stoicism, Existentialism, Nihilism, Absurdism, Buddhism, Taoism, and more, he combines his own thoughts with concepts from philosophy to create accessible, thought-provoking, and beautiful takeaways that will change the way you think about yourself, existence, and how to appreciate the absurdity of it all. Most of the essays contained in this book were originally published as videos seen by tens of millions of people on Pantano’s popular YouTube channel, Pursuit of Wonder. Because of their popularity, he has created an organized collection of revised essays gathered in the form of this book. Not only have the essays been improved and revised, but Pantano has also added additional essays containing deeper insights about the overarching subjects covered and why he has personally found them valuable. Driven by a sense of doubt, skepticism, fascination, and a yearning for awe, The Art of Living a Meaningless Existence inspires readers to embark on their own pursuit of wonder." --Back cover