Wayfinding Part 6: Highs and Lows

By: Hugh Howey

Narrated by: Graham Vick

In part 6 of this series, I tackle depression, its origins, and techniques for dealing with both it and anxiety.©2015 Hugh Howey (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

One of my favorite in the Wayfinding series

This is the penultimate installment in the Wayfaring series, although there is a stand-alone book about nutrition which I may or may not read. This was one of the most interesting episodes for me as Howey addresses how we treat our bodies in ways inconsistent to their design and then followed this up with a long discussion about depression. He presented his personal theory of why humans get depressed (not to be confused with sadness) and the techniques (referred to as his five tools) he uses to manage his own depression. He postulates that depression boils down to a caloric preservation mechanism. It was all quite interesting and thought out on his part, especially his theory of why developed countries have more depression as studies have suggested. He also examines the concept of sleep and the science behind why humans do it, and why we might not need as much as we think. This didn’t click with me, I need my sleep at my age. He backs his claims up with science and sleep studies so I guess maybe he's on to something. I don't know.

One of the examples he used to show how humans don’t treat our bodies consistent in the way they evolved was regarding ankle injuries. This was interesting to me as I’ve had probably a dozen or so over the years from basketball, some serious and some not so much. In short, we humans right away wrap and ice ankles to prevent swelling. A cast may be necessary for more serious injuries. Meanwhile, your body sends blood and fluid to the area to swell and immobilize the ankle to protect it, it's already "wrapping" the injury. And your nerves are a built-in doctor, telling you how much you can move it at any given time during the gradual healing process. Your body is treating and rehabbing the injury naturally.

He finishes by talking about his first sail boat and how he customized it by basically stripping it down and living in it with minimal possessions for two years. The book ends with him getting ready for his global circumnavigation on his new boat, Wayfinder, which he scheduled to begin two weeks after finishing writing this series (he set sail in 2015). He documented his trip on social media platforms and it was something else.

I thought this was one of the better books in the series.