Part One: Umberto Eco's Antilibrary, or How We Seek Validation, Chapter 7: Living in the Antechamber of Hope Summary and Analysis

Summary

People living in Extremistan have suffered from various forms of persecution because they have not attained a steady-state that others considered a mark of success. The unpublished writer waited to be accepted by an agent or publisher; the struggling rock star waited to be discovered by a major recording label; the scientist waited for a breakthrough theory that would win the Nobel prize. All these people needed Black Swan events of the positive kind to happen in order to be considered successful by others, and that perception was fleeting as the others forgot and moved on to other interests.

The author made the point that oftentimes people who...