“On Being Awesome: A Unified Theory of How Not to Suck” by Nick Riggle

Ok that’s it I’m calling it: this is by far my favorite philosophical text that I’ve read. Probably ever. Riggle manages to toe the line of writing so familiarly and colloquially, but also making really nice academic points on how to treat each other. It makes ideas about ethics and community very accessible, and very inclusive.

The main argument that Riggle presents is that being awesome is opening up space for interactions outside of the norm, creating social openings to interact in ways that we usually don’t. Sucking is the opposite of that, you don’t take up an opening when presented with one or actively shut them down. This theory starts with a really concrete example of an awesome guy at a sports game acting out a Bon Jovi music video and a guy who sucks trying to kick him. Riggle then goes through examples of different ways to be awesome or suck, and talks about how we can all create a little more awesome in our lives.

I got such a kick out of this book. Based on the title and the way it is all presented, it seems like a very bro-y topic that might only connect with a small part of the population. Or it might stay very surface level, only talking about what does and does not suck in a non-generalizable way. I was super wrong. Riggle clearly put the work into this, he talks about how biases such as racism or sexism can lead to sucking as being awesome is all about inclusivity. And then there was a whole section on awesome art that leads to new interactions with other people, which I loved as a philosophy of art nerd. Riggle has also published academic philosophy papers, he cites them in the footnotes throughout. I just love that this is a project that an academic philosopher took on!

I really wish there were more books like this, that make philosophical theories accessible to so many people without talking down on them. And if anything, I think this work has only gotten more relevant as so many people do not know how to behave coming out of the pandemic. We should all strive to be more awesome and interact with more awesome art!