Summary

Saunders goes on to pose what he views as this topic’s central quandary: “What’s our problem? Why aren’t we kinder?” (9). Saunders then posits the idea that people are “born with a series of built-in confusions” (10). The first of these confusions is an individual’s idea that they are “central to the universe” (10), or, in other words, more important than other individuals. The second fallacy that Saunders points out is the idea that the individual is somehow separate from others and the world around them, and thus the individual needs only to be concerned with themselves. The third fallacy that Saunders points out is the individual’s idea that they are permanent and essentially immune to death. Saunders says that, in general, people do not believe these things on a logical, intellectual level. On a conscious level, people wish to be less...