Same as Ever (Morgan Housel)

Same as Ever: A Guide to What Never Changes
Morgan Housel
Portfolio
Nonfiction, Business/History/Human Psychology
**** (Good)

DESCRIPTION: It's not hard to find evidence that the world is going crazy lately. Political strife, income disparity, pandemics, floods of lies drowning truth and facts... the list goes on an on. While these are doubtless perilous times, they are far from entirely unprecedented. Business writer Morgan Housel digs into the past to put the present in perspective, finding a surprising number of basic ideas and truths that never seem to change.

REVIEW: With so much bombarding us with fear and gloom, this book seemed like a possible antidote for, or at least partial check on, the downward spiral. By looking back on other "unprecedented" times, Housel does indeed offer a bit of comfort (if mildly cold comfort; as much as pure pessimism is unwarranted, pure optimism's at least as self-deceptive) that what we're going through now isn't completely dissimilar to what humanity has gone through before. As the saying goes (often attributed to Samuel "Mark Twain" Clemens), history doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes. While the details and specifics vary, society's reactions and human psychology remain the same. Greed and innovation, ambition and caution, selflessness and selfishness, the attractiveness of a compelling but potentially misleading story over solid but uninteresting or intimidating truths, all these and more have followed our species since long before prehistory, and will almost certainly continue with us as long as our species persists; indeed, the author uses evolution to demonstrate several concepts he presents in this book, such as how generalism often beats out specialization and how niches are constantly in flux, no life form guaranteed a perpetual pass from needing to adapt or die.
Housel does not offer specific predictions, as there are too many variables and too many times major events have hinged on the unanticipated and unquantifiable, but offers ways to reframe one's viewpoint to a more rational and less reactionary stance. Yes, there are plenty of things to worry about, but there is also some valid cause for cautious optimism. The focus tends to be on the business and financial side of things, which does lend itself to a few potential blind spots (in particular, I think he glossed over the potential problems of environmental and climate shifts, not to mention future competition for fresh water on a scale I don't think our species has faced), plus he has a way of glossing over the very real pitfalls and long-term costs of poverty. Overall, though, Housel presents an interesting and well-researched call for, if not complete calm, at least some hesitation before chalking our world and civilization up as a lost cause.

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