- All parties are terrible and you're a terrible person if you like parties
- Women date abusive men because they were traumatized as a child, and they avoid nice guys, so be an asshole to women
- You can't be a good person unless you had a shitty time growing up, and people only start families to deal with their own shitty family trauma, so, good luck
- You are doomed to an unhappy marriage. Don't look for someone you like, look for someone you can endure
- People with bad taste were traumatized as children. All Russians and Saudi Arabians have bad taste
- People give self help books a lot of shit, but you should read self help books (Alain sells self help books)
- For dinner you should order children's fish sticks, cranberry juice, and the most expensive dessert, the last two because you feel awkward about ordering the first one, and this will help you on a date
You're getting downvoted, but this is barely a caricature.
Here's the man himself holding forth on interior design. Apparently people who like minimalism are compensating for their inner emotional chaos, and people who like rustic country stylings want a break from being overwhelmed by technology. People who have ornate gold everywhere are terrified of being poor.
It's silly pseudo-psychological nonsense - all opinion, with no empirical basis.
Worse, it ignores the existence of competitive status display and class identification.
Worse than that, he's clearly writing about himself and generalising to other people.
There's an entire book of this. If you want to learn nothing about taste or architecture - but more than you want to know about Alain de Botton - you can read it.
One thing about Alain de Botton that mystifies me is that he was born into a family with 9-digit wealth, and he apparently likes piling up comparatively small sums by monetizing his philosophy habit. Successful authors of multiple books typically write some as an outlet for their genius and some because they need or cannot pass up the money. What motivates him? How much of his writing is outsourced?
According to de Botton he makes money from his work and doesn't have access to the family trust fund.
The UK has a few people - like poverty-cook Jack Monroe - who have faced real financial and emotional challenges and come through them to become inspirational people.
But without becoming Professionally Inspirational™ about it.
de Botton seems like a spoilt dilettante in comparison - an entertainer for the aspirational classes.
IMO someone who has never faced extreme poverty or unusual emotional stress has no business telling others how to live their lives.
- All parties are terrible and you're a terrible person if you like parties
- Women date abusive men because they were traumatized as a child, and they avoid nice guys, so be an asshole to women
- You can't be a good person unless you had a shitty time growing up, and people only start families to deal with their own shitty family trauma, so, good luck
- You are doomed to an unhappy marriage. Don't look for someone you like, look for someone you can endure
- People with bad taste were traumatized as children. All Russians and Saudi Arabians have bad taste
- People give self help books a lot of shit, but you should read self help books (Alain sells self help books)
- For dinner you should order children's fish sticks, cranberry juice, and the most expensive dessert, the last two because you feel awkward about ordering the first one, and this will help you on a date