Customer Reviews

What Life Could Mean to You

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It is remarkable and true that Alred Adler's popular psychology books written 70 years ago are superior to most of the pop psych published today. That is why Adler is still in print. He understood the conflict between feelings of inferiority and striving for superiority. Even more importantly, he explained how fashioning a healthy synthesis of individuality (the creative self) and social interest (energy directed outside, beyond one's self) is the solution to feeling unhappy. Adler avoided the extremes of unrealistic optimism (as in humanistic and positive psychology) and of hopeless pessimism (as seen in Freud and some evolutionary psychology). His vision of psychological health is realistic, very human, and humane. Why read contemporary pop psych when Adler is still in print?

Adler offers few fresh insights in this sequel to "Understanding Human Nature" as it mostly repeats his concepts of inferiority feelings and social feeling. In fact, one of the later chapters lifts sections of the first book word for word. Moreover, Adler veers into prejudice in his ardent promotion of social cooperation by suggesting single people or those without children are failing to meet their obligations to contribute to society. He also misattributes homosexuality to attachment issues. His first book is a classic - among the best I've ever read on psychology. This one is better left in the 1930s.

i dont agree with everything that the author has written here but the book is well structured and offers a point of view.