The Comfort Crisis

Outline

The Comfort Crisis (2021) argues that modern comfort and convenience have left many people less healthy, less resilient, and less fulfilled. Journalist Michael Easter joins a demanding hunting expedition in the Alaskan wilderness and talks with scientists to show how boredom, hunger, cold, and physical effort can benefit body and mind. The book encourages readers to seek meaningful challenges in daily life.

• Modern comfort and convenience have left many people less healthy, less resilient, and less fulfilled than they could be.
• Boredom, hunger, cold, and physical effort can benefit both body and mind, rather than being things to avoid.
• Michael Easter joined a demanding hunting expedition in the Alaskan wilderness to explore what discomfort does to a person.
• He talks with scientists to back up the idea that deliberate hardship can build strength and focus.
• You can seek out meaningful challenges in everyday life instead of waiting for hardship to find you.

Michael Easter is an American journalist, author, and professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He writes about health, performance, and human behaviour, and his other books include Scarcity Brain.