Some ideas are so accepted and internalized, he writes, that “we’re not even in a position to question their fallibility.” But what if you do question them? Will they stay that way? Didn’t we used to think that stars hung in the heavens like lamps and the sun revolved around the earth? In each chapter, Klosterman applies to different topics “Klosterman’s Razor” i.e., “the philosophical belief that the best hypothesis is the one that reflexively accepts its potential wrongness to begin with.”

He even questions gravity, which we now deem indisputable enough to be referred to as a “law” of physics. Klosterman asks us to reexamine a number of concepts that seem universally accepted. As an example of changing opinions, Klosterman cites the critical evaluation of Moby Dick, a book that was virtually ignored for several decades after its publication, but is much revered today, particularly by people who haven’t read it.Ī basic thesis of this book is that since perceptions change all the time, it might be helpful to think about our current perceptions in different ways, turning them on their heads, so to speak.

But it is exceedingly difficult to predict in what way those perceptions will differ. Because for the rest of your life, they will control how you feel about everyone else.Chances are good that when people look back at the early 21st century 150 years from now their perceptions and characterizations of the present time will be quite different from our own. The person who defines your understanding of love is not inherently different than anyone else, and they’re often just the person you happen to meet the first time you really, really, want to love someone. This is the person who unknowingly sets the template for what you will always love about other people, even if some of these loveable qualities are self-destructive and unreasonable. It usually happens retrospectively, but it happens eventually. But there’s still one more tier to all this there is always one person you love who becomes that definition. These are the most important people in your life, and you’ll meet maybe four or five of these people over the span of 80 years. But there are certain people you love who do something else they define how you classify what love is supposed to feel like. The last girl I love will be someone I haven't even met yet, probably. Her name was Missy we talked about horses. The first girl I ever loved was someone I knew in sixth grade. “We all have the potential to fall in love a thousand times in our lifetime.

Book review the chuck klosterman