{"product_id":"the-mattering-instinct-how-our-deepest-longing-drives-us-and-divides-us-rebecca-newberger-goldstein-hardcover","title":"The Mattering Instinct: How Our Deepest Longing Drives Us and Divides Us -- Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, Hardcover","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eMacArthur Fellow and National Humanities Medalist Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, author of \u003cem\u003ePlato at the Googleplex\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eThe Mind-Body Problem\u003c\/em\u003e, returns with a revelatory book about the primal drive that in our species alone has been transformed into one of our most persistent and universal motivations: the longing to \u003cem\u003ematter\u003c\/em\u003e. Drawing on biology, psychology, and philosophy, Goldstein argues that this need to matter--and the various \"mattering projects\" it inspires--is the source of our greatest progress and our deepest conflicts: the very crux of the human experience. Goldstein brings this profound idea to life through unforgettable stories of famous and not-so-famous people pursuing their unique mattering projects: the ragtime genius Scott Joplin, whose dedication to his ignored masterpiece, \u003cem\u003eTreemonisha\u003c\/em\u003e, ended in tragedy; the pioneering psychologist William James, who rose above the depression of his young adulthood to become perhaps the first great theorist of mattering; an impoverished Chinese woman who rescued abandoned newborns from the trash; and a neo-Nazi skinhead who as a young man dealt racial violence to feel he mattered but ultimately renounced that hateful past after realizing that mattering isn't a zero-sum game. These portraits illuminate how our instinct for significance shapes identity, relationships, culture, and conflict--and they point the way to a future where we all might see that there is, fundamentally, enough mattering to go around. Deeply revealing and insightful, and decades in the making, \u003cem\u003eThe Mattering Instinct\u003c\/em\u003e is a must read for those curious about why we seek to matter to ourselves and others--and how this insatiable longing that drives us apart may be the key to finally understanding each other.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/strong\u003e Rebecca Newberger Goldstein\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/strong\u003e Liveright Publishing Corporation\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePublished:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1\/13\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 352\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/strong\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWeight:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.35 lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSize:\u003c\/strong\u003e 8.9\" H x 6.3\" L x 1.3\" W\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eISBN:\u003c\/strong\u003e 9781324096856\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Flowerburst","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50747082375472,"sku":"9781324096856","price":29.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0879\/2712\/8368\/files\/9781324096856_e0b36ab9-a394-49a0-9178-a4e672662a69.jpg?v=1775208956","url":"https:\/\/flowerburst.co\/products\/the-mattering-instinct-how-our-deepest-longing-drives-us-and-divides-us-rebecca-newberger-goldstein-hardcover","provider":"Flowerburst","version":"1.0","type":"link"}