BREAKING THE SIMULATION

A debut author proposes ancient collective practices as the solution to modern-day isolation.

“Every morning you wake into a constructed reality,” writes Howell, who describes how social media, news feeds, and socially constructed ideas of wealth are “engineered” by others to shape your daily actions. Thus, it’s no surprise that in our modern world, “Everything feels slightly fake. Sightly hollow. Slightly wrong.” While the author posits that the origins of today’s social engineering date back thousands of years, he suggests that our ancestors also hold the solution to contemporary loneliness, rage, and aimlessness. Looking at the ancient world, the author explores how Mesopotamians manipulated citizens through commercialized idols and how Greek philosophers “Colonized Consciousness” by creating “mental categories” that undergirded imperial expansion. The biblical account of Abraham, who was the son of a successful idol maker (per this retelling), provides an example of someone who rejected the realities imposed on him via geographical and philosophical distancing. Similarly, Jesus offered a paradigm shift that rejected the assumptions of imperial Rome—such as the idea that humanity runs on competition for resources and that “someone must lose”)—by emphasizing the power of community and the idea that “reality is co-created through continued action.” This message about the importance of interdependence through genuine community is the ultimate lesson taught to us by our ancestors, per Howell. Though many are misled by the “fantasy of perfect community” (a construct that emphasizes division, according to the author), Howell asserts that only by embracing the imperfect rhythms of a communal lifestyle can one find refuge and meaningful identity. While the volume draws heavily on biblical stories, it’s not uncritical of Christianity, noting, for instance, how the institutionalized Church has historically become intertwined with imperial dominance. The core message may resonate with readers who feel out of step with today’s social and cultural climate, but the book’s 300-plus pages of staccato, deliberately abrupt sentences contribute to a histrionic tone that quickly becomes exhausting.

An important reflection on the importance of community hampered by melodramatic prose.