Tuesday 26 May 2015
19:00
David Brooks
in conjunction with Intelligence Squared
New York Times columnist David Brooks is one of the leading public intellectuals of our times. His book The Social Animal, a study of the unconscious mind and the triggers that drive human behaviour, was one of the most talked about publications of 2011. David Cameron instructed all the members of his Cabinet to read it.
In his latest book, The Road to Character, Brooks argues that today’s ‘Big Me’ culture is making us increasingly self-preoccupied: we live in a world where we’re taught to be assertive, to master skills, to broadcast our brand, to get likes, to get followers. But amidst all the noise of self-promotion, Brooks will claim that we’ve lost sight of an important and counterintuitive truth: that in order to fulfil ourselves we need to learn how to forget ourselves.
David Brooks is a columnist for The New York Times, frequent broadcaster and political commentator. His books include the international bestsellers The Social Animal: The Story of How Success Happens and Bobos in Paradise: The New Upper Class and How They Got There. In 2013 he began teaching a course on philosophical humility at Yale University, from which some of the ideas explored in The Road to Character originated.
"To explain the unknown by the known is a logical procedure; to explain the known by the unknown is a form of theological lunacy."
David Brooks is a columnist for The New York Times, frequent broadcaster and political commentator. His books include the international bestsellers The Social Animal: The Story of How Success Happens and Bobos in Paradise: The New Upper Class and How They Got There. In 2013 he began teaching a course on philosophical humility at Yale University, from which some of the ideas explored in The Road to Character originated.