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Madness Overrated
Madness Overrated explores the mad dynamics of the consumption-based, growth-driven world and its undeniably powerful role in affecting virtually every aspect of our lives and reshaping our existence as humans.
The book presents deep-reaching observations on the human mind as it undergoes various changes while adapting to everything imposed onto it by society in the name of progress, productivity, and growth.
The author encourages the readers to ask themselves honest questions about the mad lives we live and thereby rediscover our natural curiosity to look inquisitively behind the facades of the many illusions we were made to believe. The author presents her vision for what the world looks like when experienced by balanced humans and what it means to really grow and make progress as a global society.
The book presents deep-reaching observations on the human mind as it undergoes various changes while adapting to everything imposed onto it by society in the name of progress, productivity, and growth.
The author encourages the readers to ask themselves honest questions about the mad lives we live and thereby rediscover our natural curiosity to look inquisitively behind the facades of the many illusions we were made to believe. The author presents her vision for what the world looks like when experienced by balanced humans and what it means to really grow and make progress as a global society.
- GenresScience
140 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 24, 2017
About the author
Esra Kuş
4 books2 followersEsra Kuş is a materials scientist, spiritual seeker, and writer based in Istanbul. With a background in engineering and a genuine interest in consciousness, she shares observations, reflections, and lived experiences from a perspective that bridges analytical thinking with spiritual inquiry. Her writing invites readers to reflect, heal, and explore the deeper layers of the human journey.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 8, 2018
A must read for anyone who feels uncomfortable in the machine that is modern society. Made me ask some questions about how I go about my day, and what I do out of habit and boredom, might be symptoms of the social structure and not normal.. even though we are conditioned to think otherwise.
March 24, 2017
An utterly simple eye opener! Annoyingly true, downright striking.
November 14, 2017
Compelling account of where and how we're progressing to a world that's 'supposedly' better. Provokes you to think - is the chaos an inescapable societal imposition, or is the chaos of productivity and progress self-created? Good read.
Want to Read
November 12, 2018Recommended reading by a commenter on a Chris Hedges video I posted to Facebook.
November 12, 2018
This one is the worst book, I have read in a long time. That’s what happens when you decide to give it a go to a relatively new book from a new author.
It started promising though. It started powerful making a few good points.
“The Mad Man hates nature. He is convinced that everything went wrong with the creation and that the world needs to be redesigned and corrected. Water needs to be rechanneled, animals need to be trapped, food should be genetically modified, humans should be addicted, lives should be extended, souls should be disturbed, lands should be owned, and power should be abused. Anything that is remotely authentic should be destroyed and replaced with his own controlled creations. That is what he calls progress.
The Mad Man does not approve of how life naturally unfolds; he likes to set the pace. He demands the grains to grow quickly, the fruits to mature rapidly, and the animals to multiply promptly.”
Of course, the observations made above, a lot of us has made too. Nothing really mind opening, but a strong restatement of some side effects of today’s capitalistic, consumption-oriented society. However, from that moment on, the book becomes dogmatic, generalizing claims over entire populations, without any mentioning of historical facts or research on human nature, technology, medicine or other relevant fields. For instance:
“We want to become busier and more important than ever; we want to accommodate, no matter what is asked of us: longer work days, weekend assignments, last-minute engagements, stressful meetings, and intense competition. … daily conversations with our families come down to characters in the shows we watch or the items we want to buy to make our lives “better”.
No lady, this is not true at all. Look at history. During the industrial revolution people were working at least 12 hours per day. Now the normal work day is 8 hours. Of course, people have grown to think that less working hours are more desirable. Maybe extremes (and workaholic) exist, but the overall tendency is towards less work and more entertainment. In Europe (maybe your “Mad Man” is American at heart, but then you should have clarified your context better), these 8 hours work day are reality, not a dream.
Another very strong statement:
“We are crushed when we fail to score high enough and are listed as poor performers; it makes us feel like complete losers who do not deserve to be loved or to be happy.”
This statement is based on what facts? Which evidence? None of the people, in the many countries I have lived in, ever took performance valuations as seriously as to determine their worth based on them.
And it goes on: “As our health worsens, he creates more drugs.”
You know right, that medicine has saved and improved the quality of millions of human lives. Only the smallpox vaccine is estimated to save 5 million lives annually.
And it goes on and on, a lot of critique (not a single achievement mentioned) without evidence, without any real solutions, just generic buzzwords:
“… you give others recognition and trust instead of ignorance and broken hearts; you realize that hurting others is what hurts you the most.”
I mean really? I could go on and on in my critique too, but it’s really not worth the time. So, basically the entire book could have been a long essay, published on some newspaper. However, the author seemed to have preferred quantity and profits to quality, and hence a book. I really recommend reading Sapines: A brief history of human kind and Homo Deus from Harari for a really insightful description (for the most part unbiased and research based) on what we have achieved and where we are heading with the latest developments in our society.
It started promising though. It started powerful making a few good points.
“The Mad Man hates nature. He is convinced that everything went wrong with the creation and that the world needs to be redesigned and corrected. Water needs to be rechanneled, animals need to be trapped, food should be genetically modified, humans should be addicted, lives should be extended, souls should be disturbed, lands should be owned, and power should be abused. Anything that is remotely authentic should be destroyed and replaced with his own controlled creations. That is what he calls progress.
The Mad Man does not approve of how life naturally unfolds; he likes to set the pace. He demands the grains to grow quickly, the fruits to mature rapidly, and the animals to multiply promptly.”
Of course, the observations made above, a lot of us has made too. Nothing really mind opening, but a strong restatement of some side effects of today’s capitalistic, consumption-oriented society. However, from that moment on, the book becomes dogmatic, generalizing claims over entire populations, without any mentioning of historical facts or research on human nature, technology, medicine or other relevant fields. For instance:
“We want to become busier and more important than ever; we want to accommodate, no matter what is asked of us: longer work days, weekend assignments, last-minute engagements, stressful meetings, and intense competition. … daily conversations with our families come down to characters in the shows we watch or the items we want to buy to make our lives “better”.
No lady, this is not true at all. Look at history. During the industrial revolution people were working at least 12 hours per day. Now the normal work day is 8 hours. Of course, people have grown to think that less working hours are more desirable. Maybe extremes (and workaholic) exist, but the overall tendency is towards less work and more entertainment. In Europe (maybe your “Mad Man” is American at heart, but then you should have clarified your context better), these 8 hours work day are reality, not a dream.
Another very strong statement:
“We are crushed when we fail to score high enough and are listed as poor performers; it makes us feel like complete losers who do not deserve to be loved or to be happy.”
This statement is based on what facts? Which evidence? None of the people, in the many countries I have lived in, ever took performance valuations as seriously as to determine their worth based on them.
And it goes on: “As our health worsens, he creates more drugs.”
You know right, that medicine has saved and improved the quality of millions of human lives. Only the smallpox vaccine is estimated to save 5 million lives annually.
And it goes on and on, a lot of critique (not a single achievement mentioned) without evidence, without any real solutions, just generic buzzwords:
“… you give others recognition and trust instead of ignorance and broken hearts; you realize that hurting others is what hurts you the most.”
I mean really? I could go on and on in my critique too, but it’s really not worth the time. So, basically the entire book could have been a long essay, published on some newspaper. However, the author seemed to have preferred quantity and profits to quality, and hence a book. I really recommend reading Sapines: A brief history of human kind and Homo Deus from Harari for a really insightful description (for the most part unbiased and research based) on what we have achieved and where we are heading with the latest developments in our society.
March 22, 2017
(Disclosure: I did the manuscript edit for this book.) I find the author's observations of our Mad world and her view of what we can do about it stunning as she describes the lives we live in the "first world" and the quality of life that is forced upon us as we try to measure up to inhuman standards. You will recognize the many manipulations she unmasks, but the book made a big impact on me. It has a compelling rhythm that is almost poetic, it reads beautifully, and it has the potential to change lives. I do not write reviews for most of the books I edit, but this one stands out and deserves attention.
September 29, 2019
Spoke to me
Very on target for today's world, she gives voice to that sense of desperation we all have inside, thinking "what the he'll is going on?" The absurdity of life sometimes can be overwhelming and this books helped me to remember to listen within.
Very on target for today's world, she gives voice to that sense of desperation we all have inside, thinking "what the he'll is going on?" The absurdity of life sometimes can be overwhelming and this books helped me to remember to listen within.
March 14, 2024
The book is an honest, direct, and simple expression of the emotions and thoughts of a human being pressured by the mad world surrounding us all. It philosophically questions the consumption-based, growth-obsessed dynamics that shape our societies and lives around the world. I can call it a rebellion against a game that makes us forget about asking questions and thinking clearly, a global call to awareness and change.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews