What Am I Doing with My Life?: And other late night internet searches answered by the great philosophers

by Stephen Law

Life philosophy based on Google searches

Have I found 'the one'?
Am I a psychopath?
Should I be allowed to say whatever I want?

Millions of people ask Google all sorts of questions, everything from the big and small.

Responding to the biggest, existential questions asked online and using the wisdom of Plato, Kant, Kierkegaard and other philosophical greats philosopher, academic, and all-round polymath, Stephen Law, undertakes the challenge and explores our modern-day concerns with tongue-in-cheek sagacity.

No matter what you’ve googled in a midnight moment of existential despair, this book will answer all your burning questions.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Audiobook

272 pages, Hardcover

Published May 1, 2020

About the author

Stephen Law is a philosopher who teaches at Heythrop College in the University of London. He also edits the journal THINK, a source of philosophy aimed at the general public, affiliated with The Royal Institute of Philosophy.

Reviews

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

This draws together all those frequently searched random questions that people ask google, usually late at night, after a drink or 3, and/or after some kind of negative event or experience. Ranging from 'am I being manipulated?' and 'does my life have meaning?' to 'why is there a face in my toast?' and 'what is bullshit?' Law pulls together the most common philosophical responses to each question, simplifying and summarising a fair bit, and providing something of a response. Obviously given the scale and consequence of some of the questions, the answers provided aren't always conclusive but it provides a starting point for further thought (not research, thought), which is likely to be helpful for many.

[Genia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
Answering some philosophical questions shorty and to the point. It was interesting at some point and kind of ok in others.

[Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it, wasn't perfect, but it wasn't designed to be a perfect guide for those midnight questions which enter your head at 2am whilst you are playing throwback anthems from 90s or 00s.

Just give a little direction on how you should think about those questions e.g. 'why do I push people away?' Or 'what's the meaning of life?'

it's meant to be a starting point, for thoughts on topics most people (I think) have. Religious or not it's nice to read on what someone has to say about these questions.... As a Christian Guy myself, I found it an interesting read.

I say give this book a try, There's a little something for everyone.

[blerta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Manchmal halten uns existenzielle und wichtige Fragen nachts wach. Vielleicht verirrt sich der eine oder andere dabei auf Google, auf der Suche nach Antworten. Stephen Law nimmt sich diesen Fragen an und gibt uns dabei Ansätze, nach denen grosse Denker wie Platon, Aristoteles und Kierkegaard an diese Fragen herangetreten wären.

Originell, war das erste, das mir durch den Kopf ging, als ich den Klappentext las. Im Buch sind 45 solcher Fragen zu finden, die bestimmt jedem von uns schon mal durch den Kopf gegangen sind. Fragen, auf die es meistens auch keine Antworten gibt. »Bin ich der gleiche Mensch wie vor 20 Jahren?«, »Warum kann ich das Leben nicht geniessen?«

Stephen Law greift bei der Beantwortung der Fragen auf Stoiker, Naturphilosophen und viele weitere Standpunkte zurück. In diesem Buch steckt viel Grundwissen der Philosophie, das einem bei der Bewältigung gewisser Lebensabschnitte mit Sicherheit helfen kann – wenn man sich auf einen Perspektivenwechsel einlässt.

Manchmal waren die Antworten etwas weit hergeholt, aber dennoch war ich begeistert davon, wie man auch abstraktere Theorien auf Alltägliches anwenden kann. Gegen mehr Tiefe hätte ich nichts einzuwenden gehabt, aber für die kleine Seitenzahl und dennoch beachtliche Breite, die das Buch an Themen abdeckt, hat es mich überzeugt.

Wer in kleinen Happen in die Grundlagen der Philosophie eintauchen möchte und dabei noch die ein oder andere Weisheit fürs Leben aufschnappen möchte, für den ist dieses Buch perfekt.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read. Or rather listen. Normally I prefer regular books or e-books to audiobooks but this time I specifically sought out an audiobook read by Anthony Howell and I wasn't disappointed. I fell in love with his voice after playing Vampyr and that's how I found myself listening to a book on philosophy; something I've never done before. Anthony Howell's performance is incredible, as expected, but the actual content of the book is very interesting too. The chapters are short, 9 minutes at most, so if you have trouble with your attention span like me, you're in luck. The author doesn't provide his own specific answers to the questions, but rather presents some possible philosophical stances on the problems contained within the questions. For each one he tries to show at least two views. It is quite visible that Stephen Law has his own opinions and favourite philosophies as those are explained more thoroughly and brought up more frequently than others but that's to be expected - it's easier to be more knowledgeable on topics one is interested in than those that don't agree with one's views. Still, it only serves to give the book more personality.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

The questions are fine—some of the questions asked are often at the core of human experiences. Yet, I do think it'd be a much more interesting read if the questions could shed light on current algorithms—what people are wondering about in this era. The answers to the questions are simple, sometimes even simplistic, for the sake of ease of reading, but they lack a sustained discussion (perhaps that's not the purpose of the book). If you are very well-versed in similar topics, this book will probably be like a very long post that you can read on X or Threads...

[Nishant · Rating 3 out of 5]

Certain topics discussed are factually wrong just because it is one sided prospective and certain are pronto on the dot.

The idea itself is very good to discuss the top searched google searches.. But I feel that this book should actually be a collaboration between different nationalities.. Lets see if they get on the same page to agree with each searches philosophies.

[Nathan Ormond · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like Stephens down to earth approach to philosophy and how this book isn't written in a bloviated "arent I smart" philosophy way, as such it has the benefit of actually containing some useful advice and I found it quite good for self-help/mental health!

Not dense or difficult with big text and small chapters, a pleasant read...

[Lewis White · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fairly shallow, but fun book applying some proper philosophy to current day queries.

[Samuel Melo · Rating 3 out of 5]

1st book. January first. Not bad. A little taste into the troubling minds of people.

[Karolyna Foret · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very one sided views, not backed by science or anything to be honest

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my cup of tea. Most of it was based in philosophers feedback and religious beliefs. Could have gotten this from advice from an old relative who's never used Google.

[ColourfulCactus54 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Noice, helps you think more. Provides balanced views too

[Jasmine · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 rounded up

I don’t read a lot of non-fiction, generally because I don’t have a lot of general knowledge and therefore have no specific theme I want to read about. However, when I saw this in the Ebury catalogue, I absolutely had to have it. I find myself nightly googling stupid things and consequently receiving stupid answers.

I thought at first that Stephen Law might have produced a very self-important, opinionated response to all these profound questions as many authors do nowadays. However, what you actually get is really articulate answers with little tidbits of information and quotes from the philosophers of old. Of course, questions like “Why does nobody love me?” or “Why don’t I have any friends?” are very subjective and therefore cannot be answered with precision. Nonetheless, Law gives ambiguous yet somehow simultaneously specific answers to these questions that really get you thinking and actually make things a lot clearer in the end.

I really enjoyed reading this more than I thought I would. Thank you to Ebury and Penguin for giving me the opportunity to review this book!