Hey friends,

Like many of you, I’ve found recent news cycles to be exhausting, largely because they thrive on painting bleak futures for the general public. But I think the real source of exhaustion comes from the dialogue surrounding these events, and the ensuing bouts of anger that emerge as a result.

So in today’s post, I want to explore the anatomy of anger. On one hand, anger is necessary to fight against injustice and to take a stand at scale. But on the other, it’s a destructive force that reduces us to our animalistic roots.

I’ve found that the best way to navigate anger isn’t to treat it as a moral problem, but rather as an economic one. It’s to realize that society is far more driven by the pull of incentives than the pursuit of virtue. And by understanding this, you’ll be able to resist that pull and remain anchored no matter what happens.

That statement will require some unpacking, which is what today’s story is about. So when you’re ready, let’s dive right in:

​Ending the Anger Economy​

YouTube Video on Envy

A few prominent YouTubers have told me that I should try posting more on the platform, so I'm going to give it a shot.

I wanted to riff on the problem of envy: why it arises, what to do about it, and how to silence it via self-understanding. Check it out by going here or clicking the thumbnail below.

I plan on posting a good amount of videos over the next few weeks and seeing how things play out, so please let me know what you think!

A Thought I’ve Been Pondering

I often wonder if pessimism is directly correlated with one’s age, or if it’s mostly the result of one’s circumstances. In other words, is the world truly getting worse, or does it just appear that way because everything feels more serious as one gets older?

Well, if you were to take a rationalistic view of the world, then you’d point to a graph of increasing life expectancies over the course of the past 3 centuries and say that “no, the world is getting better.” But the harsh truth is that humans don’t find answers in rationality. We find them through personal experience.

The events of the external world are amplifiers of one’s internal state. If you are pessimistic about the direction of your life, the news of a stock market crash will only amplify that despair. If you feel that life is just one responsibility after another, then any political turmoil will make you feel that you’re powerless to do anything.

Ultimately, life is a framing problem. People think that optimism is a natural tendency, but it is actually a skill. Cultivating confidence in yourself takes work, but like any kind of meaningful work, it will pay enormous dividends. And in this case, the dividend is your ability to retain that optimism regardless of how much pessimism the world seems to exude.

A Brief Parting Question

As more people look to AI-generated book summaries to replace their reading habit, I’m going the other way. I’m looking to deepen my relationship with a few great books by reading them thoroughly and applying them to the art of living well. So here’s my question:

What’s a book that changed your life? Or if that’s too grandiose, what’s a book that changed the way you view the world?

Please tell me that one book, along with your reason why. Curious to know what works have had a profound impact on your life.

As always, hit reply to share any thoughts, to respond to the parting question, or to simply say hello. I love hearing from you.

Thanks for reading, and feel free to share this email with anyone who might enjoy it. Have a great rest of your week!

-Lawrence Yeo

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P.P.S. If you want to learn how to write thought-provoking reflections, check out The Examined Writer. It’s 3 hours of self-paced material, all designed to elevate your writing practice.