Lost in the Cosmos is a uniquely styled book. It loosely follows the theme of modern alienation. In most chapters Percy sets up a scene, asks a question, and then provides multiple choice answers leaving it to the reader to decide. I can see how the format could be a turn off for some, but I found the whole exercise very interesting although I admittedly never stopped to formulate my own answers. He also takes a detour into semiotics (the study of signifiers and signified) which never fails to get into the weeds but provides a context for many of his thought experiments. The central thesis of the book is that humans are “naming things”. We live in a world full of objects that we name and put inside boxes. This is all well and good but something uncanny happened when we became self-aware. We found that in a world full of named things we are unable to name ourselves. Everything is something to the subject, but the subject is nothing to itself. The attempt to say who you are is like trying to see the back of your head. This creates alienation in the individual that used to be salved by religion naming you as a creature, brahman, atman, something is better than nothing but now we live in an age where it is extraordinarily difficult to believe in those stories so most jettison the whole thing leaving themselves alone in the cosmos. To further illustrate this idea the book opens with a beautiful quote from Nietzsche:
“We are unknown, we knowers, to ourselves… Of necessity we remain strangers to ourselves, we understand ourselves not, in our selves we are bound to be mistaken, for each of us holds good to all eternity the motto, “Each is the farthest away from himself”-as far as ourselves are concerned we are not knowers. "
So, what options does the modern man have open to him apart from religion? According to Percy there are two modes of living that try to fill the gap. First, and most common is passive consumerism. That is the usual rat race, nine to five, save for retirement, bigger car, bigger house etc. etc. The second mode is transcendence of the self through art or science. Without getting into the details, the issue with this mode is reentry can be a bitch, what are you to do the day after you finish writing “The Old Man and the Sea”? I really enjoyed this book; Percy brings up some very valid critiques of modern society and our relationship with it. In some ways Percy is arguing, along similar lines to Peterson, that religion played a bigger role in stitching together meta narratives than most people realize, and that the death of God is a sort of Pandora’s box. I suppose in that way he is saying nothing new, but how he says it is novel and thought provoking. The twist is that the author is Catholic, this to me was very puzzling as I am unsure how you can think and write like he does about religion while still being part of it, but I admire the tenacity. Overall, a very intriguing read which gave me more things to think about in my thinker.
Friedrich Nietzsche