More and more of us are feeling overwhelmed by the everyday struggle to lead the lives to which we aspire. Children are placed under unbearable pressure to achieve; adults fight a constant battle to balance family life with work and economic demands; old people suffer from social isolation and a lack of emotional security. People of every age are feeling increasingly at odds with the world, and less able to live a life that corresponds to their individual needs and talents.
At the root of this problem, argues internationally renowned child development expert Remo Largo, is a mistaken idea of what makes us human.
A distillation of forty years of research and medical experience, The Right Life sets out a new theory of human thriving. Tracing our development as individuals from the beginnings of evolution to the twenty-first century, he sets out his own theory, the 'Fit Principle', which proposes that every human strives to live in harmony with their fellow humans and their environment. Rather than a ceaseless quest for self-improvement and growth, he argues, our collective goals should be individual self-acceptance, as we embrace the unique matrix of skills, needs and limitations that makes each of us who we are.
Not only, Largo suggests, can a true understanding of human thriving help people find their way back to their individuality; it can help us to reshape society and economy in order to live as fully as possible.