The author interprets this widespread social discomfort as a result of the inability to manage negative experiences in an era characterized by excessive positivity and the constant, almost unlimited, availability of people and goods. Anxiety and exhaustion are not only personal experiences but also social and historical phenomena.
Critiquing a world where any attitude opposing the dominant trend can lead to even greater weakening of the individual, Han draws examples from literature, philosophy, as well as social and natural sciences, to highlight the cost of abandoning occasional, meaningful spiritual reflection in favor of constant neural connectivity.
