The Wisdom of Insecurity: A Message for an Age of Anxiety

Despite being published over 70 years ago, The Wisdom of Insecurity has remained incredibly relevant. In December 2022, it was the #1 bestseller on Amazon in Zen Buddhism and Modern Philosophy. In an age of personal computers, video games, social media, and smartphones, Watts’s critiques of modern life’s “constant titillation of the ears, eyes, and nerve ends with incessant streams of almost inescapable noise and visual distractions” (61) are more salient than ever. His diagnosis of anxiety, fear, and escapism seems prescient, and his calls for a joyful return to the present moment more necessary than ever.

In the 1950s, the myth of the American Dream reached its climax, entailing a comfortable heteronormative marriage, children, an ideal home with a two-car garage, and steady corporate employment with a solid pension plan. Given that such a life was achievable for many white American men (Watts’s primary audience at the time) in the booming post-war American economy, it was strongly encouraged by cultural conservatives, who promoted a large, well-to-do middle class and an adjoining materialistic lifestyle. The Wisdom of Insecurity challenged this dominant cultural narrative. Instead of the endlessly delayed gratification offered by the American Dream, one that walled-up individuals within nests of possessions and achievements, Watts advocated for life lived for the present moment.