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The Mattering Instinct: How Our Deepest Longing Drives Us and Divides Us
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About This Book
A major, paradigm–shifting work by one of our most dazzling public intellectuals that grapples with humanity's most fundamental to matter. MacArthur Fellow and author of Plato at the Googleplex, Rebecca Newberger Goldstein returns with a book about the primal drive that in our species alone has been transformed into one of our most persistent and universal the longing to matter. Drawing on biology, psychology, and philosophy, Goldstein argues that this longing is the source of both interpersonal and societal progress and conflict—the very crux of the human experience. The "mattering map," a concept that she first introduced in her bestselling novel The Mind–Body Problem, returns to illuminate how our need for significance shapes identity, relationships, and culture. Goldstein seamlessly merges rigorous scholarship with compelling storytelling, offering a framework to understand and harness this universal drive. The Mattering Instinct is a profound exploration and a major intellectual contribution, decades in the making, of what it means to be human, challenging readers to reconsider their place in the world and their connections to others.
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Reviews
"It's a fascinating take on a profound yet little-understood aspect of the psyche."
"A testament to the idea that humans find purpose when, as the poet Rumi wrote, we 'let the beauty we love be what we do.' In a world fractured by competing claims on what's important, Goldstein offers a vision that is both intellectually resonant and humane, reminding us that the struggle to justify our existence is the very thing that makes our existence matter."
"A boldly out-there meditation on why humans want to make a difference in the world."
"Engaging and enthusiastic."
"Goldstein eventually argues that an 'objective standard' can be applied to the varieties of human conduct."
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