The Road to Character

Howdy from Durham,

The 20th century ushered in a focus on the individual.

This trend has only accelerated as the rise of 21st century tech has made it both easier and harder than ever to know one’s self.

With instant gratification and endless distraction only ever a click away, how do we guide ourselves towards internal fulfillment and an understanding of who we are?

That’s the guiding question of David Brooks’ The Road to Character. Let’s dive into my Kindle highlights.

What’s the premise of the book?

tl;dr we can choose to live like Adam I (resumé virtues) or Adam II (eulogy virtues)

• “Adam I is the external, résumé Adam. Adam I wants to build, create, produce, and discover things. He wants to have high status and win victories.
  
  Adam II is the internal Adam. Adam II wants to embody certain moral qualities. Adam II wants to have a serene inner character, a quiet but solid sense of right and wrong—not only to do good, but to be good. Adam II wants to love intimately, to sacrifice self in the service of others, to live in obedience to some transcendent truth, to have a cohesive inner soul that honors creation and one’s own possibilities.”

Why have resumé virtues become more prominent?

tl;dr the rise of “The Big Me”

• “We have seen a broad shift from a culture of humility to the culture of what you might call the Big Me, from a culture that encouraged people to think humbly of themselves to a culture that encouraged people to see themselves as the center of the universe.”

If eulogy virtues aren’t as valued as they once were, has society gotten worse?

tl;dr things have simultaneously gotten better and worse

• “None of us should ever wish to go back to the culture of the mid-twentieth century. It was a more racist, sexist, and anti-Semitic culture. Most of us would not have had the opportunities we enjoy if we had lived back then. 
  
  It was also a more boring culture, with bland food and homogeneous living arrangements. It was an emotionally cold culture. Fathers, in particular, frequently were unable to express their love for their own children. Husbands were unable to see the depth in their own wives. In so many ways, life is better now than it was then.

  
  But it did occur to me that there was perhaps a strain of humility that was more common then than now…
  
  That there was a moral ecology, stretching back centuries but less prominent now, encouraging people to be more skeptical of their desires, more aware of their own weaknesses, more intent on combatting the flaws in their own natures and turning weakness into strength. People in this tradition, I thought, are less likely to feel that every thought, feeling, and achievement should be immediately shared with the world at large.”

Can Adam I achieve long-term fulfillment?

tl;dr in a word - no. Adam I can only achieve fleeting happiness

• “The central fallacy of modern life is the belief that accomplishments of the Adam I realm can produce deep satisfaction. That’s false. Adam I’s desires are infinite and always leap out ahead of whatever has just been achieved. Only Adam II can experience deep satisfaction. Adam I aims for happiness, but Adam II knows that happiness is insufficient. The ultimate joys are moral joys.”

What does the joy of acting in accordance with Adam II feel like?

tl;dr it’s not fanfare or a scene out of a movie but peace and tranquility

• “Joy is not produced because others praise you. Joy emanates unbidden and unforced. Joy comes as a gift when you least expect it. At those fleeting moments you know why you were put here and what truth you serve. You may not feel giddy at those moments, you may not hear the orchestra’s delirious swell or see flashes of crimson and gold, but you will feel a satisfaction, a silence, a peace—a hush. Those moments are the blessings and the signs of a beautiful life.

So, does that mean we must fully suppress Adam I?

tl;dr no - we need to balance Adam I and Adam II, but strive to prioritize Adam II when the two Adams inevitably conflict with one another

• “The answer must be to stand against, at least in part, the prevailing winds of culture. The answer must be to join a counterculture. To live a decent life, to build up the soul, it’s probably necessary to declare that the forces that encourage the Big Me, while necessary and liberating in many ways, have gone too far. We are out of balance.
  
  It’s probably necessary to have one foot in the world of achievement but another foot in a counterculture that is in tension with the achievement ethos. 
  
  It’s probably necessary to reassert a balance between Adam I and Adam II and to understand that if anything, Adam II is more important than Adam I.”

What I’m paying attention to:

We lost American novelist Cormac McCarthy this past week. His work includes notable titles such as The Road and No Country for Old Men. May he rest in peace

Thanks for reading

Which portion of the Kindle highlights did you resonate the most with?

Josh

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