A book in progress by Aron Hosie · due in 2027
Why “am I enough?” never stays answered
and one question that shows which wants can be met
What do these three have in common?
- “However much I do, I never quite feel good enough.”
- “I know comparing myself to others is pointless, but I still feel a step behind.”
- “The happier, more successful version of me always seems just out of reach.”
Underneath, each is the same question: “am I enough?” This book doesn’t try to answer it. It looks at why it keeps coming back, and offers a way of seeing it when it does.
What the book does differently
- It shows why “I’m not good enough” can feel like a fact, even when the evidence says otherwise. It looks at where the feeling comes from, and why the words feel so true.
- It sorts your questions. Some can be answered, like whether there’s enough in the bank for the rent. Others, like “am I enough?”, never stay answered, however much you do.
- It shows where the measures we judge ourselves by come from, without blaming anyone.
- It does the same for AI: what it does to the measures we judge ourselves by, and which questions a machine can answer for you, and which it never can.
The book offers a way of seeing, and one question to put to any want or worry:
What is it for, and could anything ever answer it?
Can be answered
A closed ring marks a question that can be answered.
Never stays answered
An open ring marks one that never stays answered.
Can be answered
Is there enough in the bank for the rent? Once it’s paid, it stays paid.
Never stays answered
Am I enough? However much you do.
Follow the book
If any of this sounds familiar, you can sign up below. You can reply to any letter; it comes straight to me. If you’d like to read one first, “Answered, or heard?” is on the site.
Where to go next
My photographs are on the Photography page.