70: Meaning and Toil: Escape from Freedom by Erich Fromm

"To feel that it is bliss to be alive, health alone is needed. And by health I mean not the absence of physical ailment or disease, but a high condition of vitality. This the country gave me; this the town denied me. The only question was then, at what rate did I value the boon?"

In this episode of Made You Think, Nat and Neil are joined by Andrew Lynch to discuss their key takeaways from The Quest of the Simple Life by William Dawson. The setting takes place in London in the early 1900s, and Dawson takes us through his reflections and insights as he moves from the city to the countryside to fulfill his desire of living a more simple life.

We cover a wide range of topics including:

• Finding value in the work you do

• How organic social interactions differ from planned social events and meetups

• Cost of living in a small village vs. big city

• The idea of having a 3rd place where people spend time in outside their home and workspace

• Why money shouldn't be the main metric you base the success of your life on

And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat, Neil, and Andrew on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode.

Links from the Episode:

Mentioned in the show:

• Scribe Media (0:56)
• Andrew’s "How I Got Fired" article (1:10)
• FIRE Movement (3:04)
• King Ranch (7:10)
• Right Move (9:01)
• Fountain (1:19:30)
• Breez (1:19:31)

Books Mentioned:

• The Quest of the Simple Life
• Letters From a Stoic (2:38) (Nat’s Book Notes) (Book Episode)
• Alchemy (43:38)
• Shop Class as Soulcraft (1:05:26)

People Mentioned:

• Tucker Max (0:57)
• Zach Obront (0:58)
• Morgan Housel (1:36)
• Seneca (2:42)
• Tim O’Reilly (34:03)
• Rory Sutherland (43:34)
• Chamath Palihapitiya (47:14)
• Nassim Taleb (1:03:49)

Show Topics:

0:10 Our guest today is Andrew Lynch, long-time Made You Think listener from the UK who works as a finance director and writes about health, wealth, and wisdom on his website.

1:25 The book we're discussing today is the Quest of the Simple Life. This memoir by William Dawson is timeless, in that many of the thoughts and ideas expressed by Dawson in the early 1900s still ring true for many people in today's age.

5:12 It's difficult to find the perfect spot to settle in when you want to have everything: a nice piece of land, river views, proximity to what's important yet space away from everything. The homes that check all of your boxes are hard to come across, and often times not available.

9:01 Andrew shares some insights on the countryside areas that the author is moving to in the UK.

10:15 One problem with moving to the countryside that wasn’t mentioned in the book is the social aspect. Moving to the country often means less social interaction and more distance between yourself and your circle of people.

13:41 "There is none of that pleasant 'dropping-in' for an evening which is possible in country towns of not immoderate radius. Time-tables have to be consulted, engagement-books scanned, serious preparations made, with the poor result, perhaps, of two hours' hurried intercourse."

The author makes the case that it’s actually easier to socialize in a smaller village than a big town because there’s less distance to travel, it's more condensed, and you're more likely to run into friends out and about in a smaller town.

16:56 A "third place" is somewhere (bar, coffee shop, social area) where you can run into friends wit...