Horizon Information Portal

Click here for NICC Library Webpage

Click here for NICC Library Webpage

Calmar New Materials

Peosta New Materials

Natural causes : an epidemic of wellness, the certainty of dying, and killing ourselves to live longer / Barbara Ehrenreich.

by Ehrenreich, Barbara author.

New York : Twelve, 2018

xv, 234 pages ; 22 cm

Midlife revolt -- Rituals of humiliation -- The veneer of science -- Crushing the body -- The madness of mindfulness -- Death in social context -- The war between conflict and harmony -- Cellular treason -- Tiny minds -- "Successful aging" -- The invention of the self -- Killing the self, rejoicing in a living world.

Barbara Ehrenreich explores how we are killing ourselves to live longer, not better. She describes how we over-prepare and worry way too much about what is inevitable. One by one, Ehrenreich topples the shibboleths that guide our attempts to live a long, healthy life, from the importance of preventive medical screenings to the concepts of wellness and mindfulness, from dietary fads to fitness culture. We tend to believe we have agency over our bodies, our minds, and even over the manner of our deaths. But the latest science shows that the microscopic subunits of our bodies make their own "decisions," and not always in our favor. We may buy expensive anti-aging products or cosmetic surgery, get preventive screenings and eat more kale, or throw ourselves into meditation and spirituality. But all these things offer only the illusion of control. How to live well, even joyously, while accepting our mortality -- that is the philosophical challenge of this book.

Ehrenreich's core philosophy holds that aging people have the right to determine their quality of life and may choose to forgo painful and generally ineffective treatments. She presents evidence that such tests as annual physicals and Pap smears have little effect in prolonging life; investigates wellness trends, including mindfulness meditation; and questions the doctrine of a harmonious "mindbody" and its supposed natural tendency to prolong life. Mostly, she urges that we recognize that death is natural, that we enjoy our lives while we can, and that we disabuse ourselves of any self-serving notions of post-mortem permanence or even influence.

Horizon Information Portal 3.25_9807

Powered by SirsiDynix

© 2001-2013 SirsiDynix All rights reserved.

Horizon Information Portal