A comically committed exploration of current life-hacking wisdom in
areas ranging from athletic and intellectual prowess to spirituality,
creativity, wealth, and pleasure. --The New Yorker
In these pages, the authors of the widely-acclaimed Wellness Syndrome
throw themselves headlong into the techniques of self-optimization, a
burgeoning movement that seeks to transcend the limits placed on us as
mere humans, whether the feebleness of our bodies or our mental
incapacities.
Cederstrom and Spicer, devoted each month of a roller coaster year to a
different way of improving themselves: January was Productivity,
February their bodies, March their brains. June was for sex and
September for money. Perhaps the trickiest was April, a month devoted to
relationships, when their feelings for each other came under the
microscope, with results that were both hilarious and painful. Carl
thought Andre was only "dialing it in," Andre felt Carl was too
controlling.
In fact, both proved themselves willing guinea pigs in an extraordinary
(and sometimes downright dangerous) range of techniques and
technologies, had hitherto undertaken little by way of self-improvement.
They had rarely seen the inside of a gym, let alone utilized apps that
deliver electric shocks in pursuit of improved concentration. They wore
head-bands designed to optimize sleep, and attempted to boost their
memory through learning associative techniques (failing to be admitted
to MENSA bit learning pi to 1,000 digits), trained for weightlifting
competitions, wrote what they (still) hope might become a bestselling
Scandinavian detective story, attended motivational seminars and tantra
workshops, went on new-age retreats and man-camps, and experimented with
sex toys and productivity drugs. Andre even addressed a London subway
car whilst (nearly) naked in an attempt to overcome a negative body
image.
Somewhat surprisingly, the two young professors survived this year of
rigorous research. Further, they produced a hilarious and eye-opening
book based upon it. Written in the form of two parallel diaries,
Desperately Seeking Self-Improvement provides a biting analysis of the
narcissism and individual competitiveness that increasingly pervades a
culture in which social solutions are receding and individual
self-improvement is the only option left.
