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The Story of Us
From the introduction:
"The Story of Us: Intro
August 26, 2019 By Tim Urban
Chapter 0: Introduction
This is society.
stick figure
Now let’s zoom in on the left arm.
zoom in on stick figure's left arm
Further.
closer zoom on stick figure's left elbow
Okay see those skin flaps on the elbow? Let’s zoom in on the bottom one.
zoomed into skin flap on stick figure's left elbow
Little more.
tiny dots that make up the skin flaps of the stick figure's left elbow
There! See me? Come closer.
a bundle of cells that make up the stick figure's left elbow's skin flap, with one waving its arm
Hi. I’m Tim. I’m a single cell in society’s body. U.S. society, to be specific.
So let me explain why we’re here.
As a writer and a generally thinky person, I’ve spent a lot of my life thinking about the society I live in, and societies in general. I’ve always imagined society as a kind of giant human—a living organism like each of us, only much bigger.
When you’re a single cell in the body of a giant, it’s hard to understand what the giant’s doing, or why it is the way it is, because you can’t really zoom out and look at the whole thing all at once. But we do our best.
The thing is, when I’ve recently tried to imagine what society might look like, I haven’t really been picturing this:
Giant stick figure: "I am grown up."
Based on what I see around me, in person and online, it seems like my society is actually more like this:
Giant stick figure throwing a giant tantrum because their chocolate ice cream fell on the ground.
Individual humans grow older as they age—but it kind of seems like the giant human I live in has been getting more childish each year that goes by.
So I decided to write a blog post about this. But then something else happened.
When I told people I was planning to write a post about society, and the way people are acting, and the way the media is acting, and the way the government is acting, and the way everyone else is acting, people kept saying the same thing to me.
Don’t do it. Don’t touch it. Write about something else. Anything else. It’s just not worth it.
They were right. With so many non-controversial topics to write about, why take on something so loaded and risk alienating a ton of readers? I listened to people’s warnings, and I thought about moving on to something else, but then I was like, “Wait what? I live inside a giant and the giant is having a six-year-old meltdown in the grocery store candy section and that’s a not-okay thing for me to talk about?”
It hit me that what I really needed to write about was that—about why it’s perilous to write about society."
"The Story of Us: Intro
August 26, 2019 By Tim Urban
Chapter 0: Introduction
This is society.
stick figure
Now let’s zoom in on the left arm.
zoom in on stick figure's left arm
Further.
closer zoom on stick figure's left elbow
Okay see those skin flaps on the elbow? Let’s zoom in on the bottom one.
zoomed into skin flap on stick figure's left elbow
Little more.
tiny dots that make up the skin flaps of the stick figure's left elbow
There! See me? Come closer.
a bundle of cells that make up the stick figure's left elbow's skin flap, with one waving its arm
Hi. I’m Tim. I’m a single cell in society’s body. U.S. society, to be specific.
So let me explain why we’re here.
As a writer and a generally thinky person, I’ve spent a lot of my life thinking about the society I live in, and societies in general. I’ve always imagined society as a kind of giant human—a living organism like each of us, only much bigger.
When you’re a single cell in the body of a giant, it’s hard to understand what the giant’s doing, or why it is the way it is, because you can’t really zoom out and look at the whole thing all at once. But we do our best.
The thing is, when I’ve recently tried to imagine what society might look like, I haven’t really been picturing this:
Giant stick figure: "I am grown up."
Based on what I see around me, in person and online, it seems like my society is actually more like this:
Giant stick figure throwing a giant tantrum because their chocolate ice cream fell on the ground.
Individual humans grow older as they age—but it kind of seems like the giant human I live in has been getting more childish each year that goes by.
So I decided to write a blog post about this. But then something else happened.
When I told people I was planning to write a post about society, and the way people are acting, and the way the media is acting, and the way the government is acting, and the way everyone else is acting, people kept saying the same thing to me.
Don’t do it. Don’t touch it. Write about something else. Anything else. It’s just not worth it.
They were right. With so many non-controversial topics to write about, why take on something so loaded and risk alienating a ton of readers? I listened to people’s warnings, and I thought about moving on to something else, but then I was like, “Wait what? I live inside a giant and the giant is having a six-year-old meltdown in the grocery store candy section and that’s a not-okay thing for me to talk about?”
It hit me that what I really needed to write about was that—about why it’s perilous to write about society."
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First published January 1, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
November 18, 2020
If you are not reading Wait but Why you miss a lot.
If you are reading Wait but Why, you miss a lot of your own life, cause this fella is wordy.
What you get:
Fun and thoughtfulness.
Completely new vocabulary on a given topic, but with one caveat - you can effectively use it only in your own thinking and with friends who are also into WBW.
Sense of love and appreciation for all/most of the humans.
If you are reading Wait but Why, you miss a lot of your own life, cause this fella is wordy.
What you get:
Fun and thoughtfulness.
Completely new vocabulary on a given topic, but with one caveat - you can effectively use it only in your own thinking and with friends who are also into WBW.
Sense of love and appreciation for all/most of the humans.
January 21, 2020
As of writing this review: 10/12 chapters have been posted.
Each chapter is a short novel in length covering different topics. These chapters have a connected goal of understanding a specific predicament through a deep sociological and psychological study.
For those wishing to really understand the political landscape, and the current ever-dividing rift, this is possibly the most valuable tool at your disposal. It teaches you how to better understand yourself and your fellow human beings long before taking you on an ever wilder descent into the darkness we've thrown ourselves in.
I would applaud the work and effort done to remain non-partisan, but after you've read it, you'll likely come to realize it was the only way it could have ever been written.
Each chapter is a short novel in length covering different topics. These chapters have a connected goal of understanding a specific predicament through a deep sociological and psychological study.
For those wishing to really understand the political landscape, and the current ever-dividing rift, this is possibly the most valuable tool at your disposal. It teaches you how to better understand yourself and your fellow human beings long before taking you on an ever wilder descent into the darkness we've thrown ourselves in.
I would applaud the work and effort done to remain non-partisan, but after you've read it, you'll likely come to realize it was the only way it could have ever been written.
March 21, 2021
As of now, the book is not finished and 10 of 12 chapters are available. Nevertheless, it's a really enjoyable read for everyone. It starts with the very basics: what motivates life and humans, how human history started and so on. If you're well versed in those topics it might feel boring if it wasn't for Tim's quirky illustrations and examples. So rather than being a dull refresher it's a ... refreshing refresher on foundations of 'human'.
Then it turns up the gears and forces the reader into more complex world of novadays politics and society. Blessed with sources and footnotes, it's a simplified but really necessary look at the issues we are facing now. And Tim goes through a lot to have the story as unbiased and nonpartisan as possible. Every example is balanced out by an equal example of the opposite side of the spectra.
Then it turns up the gears and forces the reader into more complex world of novadays politics and society. Blessed with sources and footnotes, it's a simplified but really necessary look at the issues we are facing now. And Tim goes through a lot to have the story as unbiased and nonpartisan as possible. Every example is balanced out by an equal example of the opposite side of the spectra.
December 15, 2023
шкода що останні розділи прочитав вже з веб архівів так як автор зніс цю серію постів/веб книгу тому що написав на її основі іншу і просто-книгу.
люблю от ці книжки про серйозні теми (політична думка, соціологія і психологія, політична поляризація) з упоротими (але дуже точними) ілюстраціями в пейнті, хорошим гумором і аналогіями.
з мінусів напевно тільки те що знову все дуже америкоцентричне, хоча і чесно не пробує бути чимось інакшим.
загалом така собі міленіальська іронічна апологія центризму, що мені дуже відгукується останнім часом.
типу стронглі рекоменд але хіба з веб архівів бо всьо - нема.
люблю от ці книжки про серйозні теми (політична думка, соціологія і психологія, політична поляризація) з упоротими (але дуже точними) ілюстраціями в пейнті, хорошим гумором і аналогіями.
з мінусів напевно тільки те що знову все дуже америкоцентричне, хоча і чесно не пробує бути чимось інакшим.
загалом така собі міленіальська іронічна апологія центризму, що мені дуже відгукується останнім часом.
типу стронглі рекоменд але хіба з веб архівів бо всьо - нема.
February 10, 2022
Reading the “Story of Us” provided me with a much-needed lens to undertake a comprehensive view onto the recent socio-political history of the US. This lens works equally well when directed at Europe, which is where I come from.
As Tim Urban confessed himself at the beginning of this inquiry, looking at politics used to be a cause for cringing and despair for me as well. I’m glad it no longer is such a scare to me thanks to the light shining through “The Story of Us”.
As Tim Urban confessed himself at the beginning of this inquiry, looking at politics used to be a cause for cringing and despair for me as well. I’m glad it no longer is such a scare to me thanks to the light shining through “The Story of Us”.
March 31, 2023
Ik was een fan van Tim Urban en zijn pagina Wait But Why. Ik was dus enthousiast om zijn nieuwe boek te lezen, met als ondertitel "een zelfhulpboek voor samenlevingen", dat na jaren wachten eindelijk uitkwam. Helaas viel het me erg tegen.
Mijn grootste frustratie met het boek is hoe hij zijn eigen idealen niet waarmaakt. Hij besteedt het eerste deel van het boek aan het beschrijven van hoe wij als mensen samen slimmer worden door elkaars ideeën te testen in "Ideeënlabs" en van elkaar te leren door verschillende gezichtspunten echt te begrijpen. Het is het ideaal van hoe wetenschap zou moeten werken, in tegenstelling tot wat hij noemt "Echo Kamers" waar je alleen luistert naar ideeën die de overtuigingen die je al hebt ondersteunen.
Helaas valt hij in zijn eigen "Echo Kamer"...
Deze review vond ik wel hout snijden:
https://www.nehrlich.com/blog/2023/03...
Mijn grootste frustratie met het boek is hoe hij zijn eigen idealen niet waarmaakt. Hij besteedt het eerste deel van het boek aan het beschrijven van hoe wij als mensen samen slimmer worden door elkaars ideeën te testen in "Ideeënlabs" en van elkaar te leren door verschillende gezichtspunten echt te begrijpen. Het is het ideaal van hoe wetenschap zou moeten werken, in tegenstelling tot wat hij noemt "Echo Kamers" waar je alleen luistert naar ideeën die de overtuigingen die je al hebt ondersteunen.
Helaas valt hij in zijn eigen "Echo Kamer"...
Deze review vond ik wel hout snijden:
https://www.nehrlich.com/blog/2023/03...
April 5, 2023
Tim Urban was a catalyst for me to start opening my thinking away from how I was raised. I opened my suitcase of thought, unpacked, reorganized, and repacked.
What I've been realizing over the last few years and months is that I zipped that suitcase closed. I have felt in multiple conversations my own low-rung thinking without the words to describe it. I'm glad that someone I respect like Tim Urban was able to explain that nagging feeling I had when having conversations with people and help to identify what part of these conversations are so problematic. I am recommending this book to everyone around me - we need books like this that challenge us to think in new ways.
What I've been realizing over the last few years and months is that I zipped that suitcase closed. I have felt in multiple conversations my own low-rung thinking without the words to describe it. I'm glad that someone I respect like Tim Urban was able to explain that nagging feeling I had when having conversations with people and help to identify what part of these conversations are so problematic. I am recommending this book to everyone around me - we need books like this that challenge us to think in new ways.
March 14, 2021
This book delves into the psychology and sociology of collective thought and expression and derives the reason the US political landscape is the way it is right now. Except it explains everything like I am 12. Or just an everyday individual with not more than a very fringe grasp of theories in the above topics. The book works effectively due to Tim's ability to mesh humor in novel ideas and complex theories. One of the best books I've read all year and would buy a hardcopy if it ever releases in India.
March 17, 2022
As of February 2022 it is a number of unfinished essays, that is still long enough to be rated as a book.
At the end Urban dives into American politics and I'm not sure that I'll agree his conclusions on the changes of the world needs, whatever those will be. However, a concept of two-dimensional thinking on topics is an important one. I agree it is important to understand whether someone believes their point or is seeking the truth. That (and other important thoughts like opinion spectrum) make this work an important philosophical read.
At the end Urban dives into American politics and I'm not sure that I'll agree his conclusions on the changes of the world needs, whatever those will be. However, a concept of two-dimensional thinking on topics is an important one. I agree it is important to understand whether someone believes their point or is seeking the truth. That (and other important thoughts like opinion spectrum) make this work an important philosophical read.
April 30, 2023
Very good first part, with greatly useful framework about high and low rungs thinking. After that it’s mostly overly long description of a state the US society is in, and this part is too long and boring. Visuals also cease in the second part of the book, no more revelations, just bevendone express of the same state. I wanted to cry “no more!”, but I finished it. It should have been half the size.
March 10, 2024
Very interesting and probably useful discussion about belief systems and different modes of discussion that can be used to change one's beliefs. Some of these modes of discussion, which the author argues are based on our tribal instincts, may lead to mindless polarization. This may be one of the biggest threats to democracy today. Did not finish the book as it got too particular on US politics, which I am not too interested in.
January 1, 2025
Very important book. I hope every single one human would read it at least once in their life. Please bring this book in schools, i feel this book is talking about this very important topic that I wish I would have learned about earlier. But better later than never. I actually have no words, it is a almost 400 pages long book, but I finished it in a few days. I think that if every human would read this book, then we will be able to save this world. So please if you see this, read it.
July 22, 2020
I'm amazed both by the deep knowledge of psychology and sociology displayed in Tim's posts, how he connects the dots in easy to follow storytelling lines, and the humoristic illustrations - it never gets boring. His posts are a joy to read with many "ahaa" or "coool" moments, while teaching me valuable lessons about myself, society, life and science. Long reads, but worth every minute.
July 3, 2020
'Історія про нас' - це взагалі навіть не книга - а серія статтей, масштабами в книгу.
Тім Урбан розробив, в деякому плані, теоретичну основу для розуміння того як окрема людина думає, а також розширив цю теорію до спільнот.
Тім Урбан розробив, в деякому плані, теоретичну основу для розуміння того як окрема людина думає, а також розширив цю теорію до спільнот.
April 10, 2021
Brilliant! Makes me think hard about my own thinking. Love the visualizations and metaphors Tim creates to frame and discuss the complex, multi-dimensional issues of society.
March 17, 2022
Super insightful and hilarious.
April 24, 2022
A superb presentation of multiple important concepts. Mostly it's about emergence.
Read
November 12, 2022Does anyone know when this book will be published?
May 3, 2023
One of my favorite threads ever. Just fantastic frameworks for thinking about life
June 14, 2022
Very in depth, funny and very visually explained and well written
January 25, 2022
Tim Urban es un CRACKKKK y wait but why es la mejor website que ha existido y que existira para siempre de los siempres.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews