What ARE we here for?
Who (or what) is this “Misanthropic Humanist” thing anyway?
"We're here on earth to do good for others.
What the others are here for, I do not know."
W.H. Auden
So I’ve had this idea for a book nagging at me for a few years, some vague concepts and what I thought was a banging title. The essence of it is how frustrated and annoyed I am with people being nasty to each other and generally a bit shit but also, calling myself a humanist, trying to be better, trying to encourage others to be better, and campaigning to make our laws - and the world - better. And now I’m actually writing it.
The conventional wisdom is that these days even aspiring writers need to have some kind of marketing presence (ugh!) so here we are. I present to you “The Misanthropic Humanist.”
It’s a book for people who like to think about serious topics with clarity and sharpness — but mostly for people who are fed up with how dickish people can be to each other, and could do with a little cheering up.
The scope of the book is broad, and the path to its conclusions will take us through evolution, philosophy, science, rationality—and the occasional snarky, but hopefully informative, side-quest. Expect there to be topics such as philosophy, religion, the internet, feminism, LGBTQIA+, the so-called “trans debate”, internet shaming, cancel culture, the culture wars, intersectionality, social justice, “woke”-ness, free will (and its absence), social responsibility, crime and punishment, the nature of belief and reality and how to tell the difference, neurodivergence, mental health, environmentalism, capitalism, stoicism and resilience, veganism, nationalism, human nature, societal progress, the class system, hereditary privilege, and democracy.
These are some pretty serious topics, but hopefully I’ll manage to keep it funny (or at least irreverent), though there will inevitably be some moments where it’s going to get serious.
It's a bit sweary — if that's not your thing, you're probably not gonna dig the book or this blog.
If you want to argue about how swearing reflects on my vocabulary or intellect, well, you might wanna go look up what the science says before you make yourself look stupid.
I’ll be posting bits and pieces from the book, essays on current affairs, things that grind my gears, random thoughts, and why billionaires are arseholes.
If that sounds like the kind of thing you might dig, why not subscribe and share? If you don't, then why not do those things anyway? There's no such thing as bad publicity, right?
Cheers,
T.McG.