--- title: Alan Watts: Why Modern Civilization Is a Vicious Circle description: Our society has its priorities messed up canonical: https://time.com/3742407/alan-watts-modern-civilization-vicious-circle/ author: Shane Parrish article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-03-18T15:53:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:49:35.902Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Alan Watts: Why Modern Civilization Is a Vicious Circle og:description: Our society has its priorities messed up og:url: https://time.com/3742407/alan-watts-modern-civilization-vicious-circle/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3e8ceebd260d3a33/698783555f570f4ba7b15b5e/539884213-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=508&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 508 og:image:height: 286 og:image:alt: aerial-view-night-sky og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Alan Watts: Why Modern Civilization Is a Vicious Circle twitter:description: Our society has its priorities messed up twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3e8ceebd260d3a33/698783555f570f4ba7b15b5e/539884213-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=508&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Why Modern Civilization Is a Vicious Circle > Sponsored content. 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Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ## Video: The World’s Most Expensive Cities [Watch (HLS stream): The World’s Most Expensive Cities](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/SagycTYW.m3u8) (1:28)  _Published 2015-03-04. The most expensive city on the planet to call home is Singapore. According to the EIU, it’s 11% more expensive to live in the Lion City than in the Big Apple._ by [Shane Parrish](https://time.com/author/shane-parrish/) ## Shane Parrish Mar 18, 2015 3:53 PM UTC  Aerial view of illuminated cityscape against sky at night Aerial view of illuminated cityscape against sky at night Getty Images by [Shane Parrish](https://time.com/author/shane-parrish/) ## Shane Parrish Mar 18, 2015 3:53 PM UTC “When we compare human with animal desire,” writes philosopher Alan Watts in [The Wisdom of Insecurity: A Message for an Age of Anxiety](http://a-fwd.com/es=farstrblo068-21&it=farstrblo0a-21&fr=farstrblo08-21&de=farstrblo07-21&uk=farstrblo-21&ca=farst-20&com=farnamstreet-20&asin-es=0307741206&asin-it=0307741206&asin-fr=0307741206&asin-de=0307741206&asin-uk=0307741206&asin-ca=0307741206&asin-com=0307741206), “we find many extraordinary differences.” Watts offers an interesting perspective on an age-old argument — that our society has its priorities messed up, that we need to live in the moment. --- > “” --- The root of this frustration is that we live for the future. Yet the future is never, as we move forward it becomes the present. --- > “” --- Watts argues that one of the ills of modern society is that we believe sleep to be a waste of time, that life is short. Interestingly, we’d rather watch TV and chase our fantasies than rest. --- > “” --- Our quest for never-ending stimulation comes with a high cost. We become “incapable of real pleasure, insensitive to the most acute and subtle joys of life.” The more common the pleasure the less it interests us. We’d rather watch TV. Watts tears into our wants and makes us question our desires. --- > “” --- Based on this we cannot, says Watts, call ourselves materialistic. We are in love with not things, but “measures, not solids but surfaces.” [The Wisdom of Insecurity: A Message for an Age of Anxiety](http://a-fwd.com/es=farstrblo068-21&it=farstrblo0a-21&fr=farstrblo08-21&de=farstrblo07-21&uk=farstrblo-21&ca=farst-20&com=farnamstreet-20&asin-es=0307741206&asin-it=0307741206&asin-fr=0307741206&asin-de=0307741206&asin-uk=0307741206&asin-ca=0307741206&asin-com=0307741206) is one of those books that makes you question not only yourself but the fabric of civilization. **_This piece originally appeared on_** [**_Farnam Street_**](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/)**_._** **Join over 50,000 readers and get a free weekly update via email** [**here**](http://www.farnamstreetblog.com/newsletter/)**.** _Read next:_ [_Will Technology Kill Universities?_](http://time.com/3747816/education-chalkboard-chatroom/?iid=time%5Freadnext) [_Listen to the most important stories of the day._](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/?sl%5Fautoplay=true&xid=spl-fullbrief-article) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3742407/alan-watts-modern-civilization-vicious-circle/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3742407/alan-watts-modern-civilization-vicious-circle/"},"headline":"Why Modern Civilization Is a Vicious Circle","datePublished":"2015-03-18T15:53:56.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:49:35.902Z","description":"Our society has its priorities messed up","url":"https://time.com/3742407/alan-watts-modern-civilization-vicious-circle/","keywords":["Psychology"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3e8ceebd260d3a33/698783555f570f4ba7b15b5e/539884213-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Shane Parrish","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/shane-parrish/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3e8ceebd260d3a33/698783555f570f4ba7b15b5e/539884213-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"aerial-view-night-sky","caption":"aerial-view-night-sky","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/psychology/","name":"Psychology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3742407/alan-watts-modern-civilization-vicious-circle/","name":"Why Modern Civilization Is a Vicious Circle"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The World’s Most Expensive Cities","description":"The most expensive city on the planet to call home is Singapore. 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