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theory and then veers off from physics into a variety of self-help. The thesis is that because the world is less lawful than we had thought, we human beings make things real (such as they are) in the process of our perception of them, and therefore we ought to be able to influence our reality by thinking it into the shape we want it. In contrast to quantum mechanics, George Berkeley’s eighteenth-century philosophy suggested that perception is all we can ever know. In response, Samuel Johnson announced, “I refute it thusly,” and kicked a rock. The film will make many people want to kick a rock, because mixing physics and new-age mind cure ennobles the cure and insults the science. James reminds us that, long before quantum physics, Berkeley inspired similar fancies.

The origins of the mind-cure movement are given as decidedly transcendental, but their “Youth, health, vigor!” mantra gave them away as interested in worldly success. Still, James respects this mind-cure; he says it has benefited so many key people that it cannot be summarily dismissed. What makes it so important, he says, is that it is a necessary backlash against American anxiety, which he blames on American forms of religious devotion, particularly Evangelicalism. We often speak of modern New Age theory as spiritual, and as such, as a kind of religion, but it has always been an alternative to religion; indeed, it is proposed as a rejection of the rigidity and anxiety of much established religion. What made it so important to James still makes it important to us.

We are born into the game of modern life, and invited (politely or otherwise) to join in its activities: cultural, economic, familial, community, governance, science, and invention. The game is popularly understood as both awful and wonderful. Society is split between encouraging two extremes: (1) refusing this strange game of modern life; spending life on the sidelines, not having much of an impact on the world or on your own situation; and (2) accepting the game’s terms as actual reality and invoking self-discipline, tireless efforts, and sacrifices in order to win big in one particular section of the game.

Refusal of the game is often touted as the smarter response, but it isn’t. If you hear one part of your head vilifying the game as stupid or not winnable, you might consider whether this voice is trustworthy. The game of modern life—cultural, economic, familial, community, governance, science, and invention—is not entirely stupid, and you can win. The game is somewhat stupid, of course: business is corrupt and heartless; in culture, about half the time, the fix is in, and we viewers are offered the work of the connected instead of the talented; government operates more by greed and compromise than conviction; the paradise of winning is a false image: our sites of celebration, like Disney World, have a sinister other side. But on balance we live in an interesting time, and roller coasters are part of that. As lame as the game is, it is also a majestic continuation of human culture and we are lucky to be part of it. As for my insistence that you can win: you can. Almost everyone who really tries is able to see some of their goals come to fruition. Just showing up really is a great proportion of success. Ipso facto, showing up must not be easy, but if it is doable for you, expect to be rewarded. (The only additional secret is this: when you do show up, don’t announce that you are better than everyone there, or worse than them.) Try different things, and press on further with what other people seem to like. It may be scandalous to say, but in figuring out which of your possible roads you should take, follow the praise. Do the activity that people seem to think you are good at, and take part at the level where people welcome you. (Even in matters of the heart this calculation is good: give your love to someone who shows signs of wanting it.) The point is to find a way to be engaged deeply with a bunch of parts of the game of life, but not to let winning (or any particular outcome) turn into an anxious,