Book Review
“Nobody Will Tell You This”
A practical guide to taking back control of our lives, written by Dr. Emmanuel Ogamdi
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Purpose of the Story
In this post, I aim to introduce an inspiring book titled “Nobody Will Tell You This,” penned by Dr. Emmanuel Ogamdi, a medical doctor focusing on mental health and a valued contributor to my publications on this platform, sharing his invaluable experiences and life lessons with our discerning readers.
I undertook a review of this book as it holds relevance for all of us, conveyed in straightforward language accessible to anyone.
Instead of a traditional review, I seek to offer a brief insight into the content in an essay format focusing on the core them of the book. If my observations strike a chord with you, it might pique your interest to delve into the book yourself.
Initially, I conducted an intriguing conversation with the author, seeking to understand the driving force behind the creation of this book. Inquiring about his motivations, I aimed to offer you a firsthand glimpse into the author’s intentions and what he aspires to impart to his readers.
Section I — Purpose of the Author
The upbringing of Dr. Ogamdi unfolded within the confines of a conservative religious home, where adherence to church services three times weekly was not merely expected but enforced with strict consequences for any deviation.
Immersed in the teachings of radical evangelical Christianity, the notions of heaven and hell were deeply ingrained, with fear wielded as a powerful instrument to ensure compliance.
Dr. Ogamdi’s journey toward autonomy commenced during his tenure at a university overseas while studying medicine. This newfound liberty allowed him to explore various religious doctrines and interpretations, revealing a universal pattern — almost every belief system hinged on using fear to sustain allegiance.
Driven by this revelation, Dr. Ogamdi has started a broader exploration, delving into societal sectors that thrived on exploiting fear’s influence.
His insights and experiences, deeply rooted in personal exploration and liberation from the clutches of fear, form the cornerstone of his review, providing distinct and profound perspectives that he wanted to pass along to his readers.
Writing a book like this demands more than words. It requires an intimate acquaintance with the torment and shackles of fear, followed by an arduous journey towards liberation.
When I asked why he was the most qualified person to write this book, he responded simply, “Why not me?” He emphasized the importance of firsthand experience, meticulous analysis, and documenting these fears, making them comprehensible for others.
His conviction rested on the belief that there is no better guide than someone who intimately understands these fears and has painstakingly dissected them for broader comprehension.
His points deeply resonated with me since I had scientifically examined fear and its impact on the brain and our cognitive system. In the following sections, I share my thoughts on his book to give you a perspective on how this book affected me.
Section II — My Takeaways from the Book
In our present world, what we perceive seems inherent and unchanging. This familiarity has led us to overlook many aspects. Consider the notion of free will, often assumed to be a fundamental aspect of human existence.
Liberal humanists advocate that free will grants everyone the autonomy to make their choices, irrespective of the impact on others. Whether these choices reverberate with consequences for others or not, free will is commonly regarded as an innate right that should remain untouched and inviolable.
Gradually and consistently, the concept of free will has found acceptance within governments, organizations, and entities worldwide. It has transcended mere acceptance, evolving into a doctrine that serves as the cornerstone of the humanitarian movement and the noble pursuit of human rights.
The prevailing belief is that if humans inherently possess free will — bestowed upon them through creation or evolution — why should their words or actions stemming from this free will subject them to imprisonment or torture?
This reasoning suggests that freedom from such cruelty should be considered a fundamental human right beyond infringement.
To ensure adherence to these principles of free will and the resulting human rights, extensive global policing entities like the United Nations have been established to guide everyone towards this unified understanding.
To what extent can we genuinely claim our choices and actions as free? How often do our actions truly originate from an uninfluenced state, in line with the principles of free will?
Despite our earnest attempts — or perhaps because of them — dominant forces in society have ingeniously coerced us into decisions and actions that aren’t inherently ours. They’ve mastered the art of manipulating us into carrying out their agendas, seemingly through force, albeit subtly.
What distinguishes this coercion is its non-physical, yet potent, nature. This subtlety, devoid of physical violence or visible oppression, has thrived undetected beneath the oversight of organizations and entities established to safeguard our autonomy and free will.
This coercion’s effectiveness lies in exploiting another innate aspect: fear. While free will represents empowerment, fear stands as its antithesis.
Despite the widespread notion of free will, the pervasive exploitation of our fears for particular — perhaps selfish — benefits has persisted for a considerable duration, infiltrating every facet of society.
Like a virus targeting one cell and gradually spreading to others until all are infected, the exploitation of fear has seized control across all sectors of our contemporary world.
What do successful politicians share in common with religious leaders, educators, finance ministers, and other influential roles within the country?
They all leverage and manipulate our fears, using them as a catalyst to steer us toward aligning with their beliefs and conforming to their agendas.
These directives are sometimes packaged as conventional wisdom, while at other times, they might represent unconventional or fringe perspectives.
Regardless of their categorization, it is evident that without exploiting our fears, our choices would likely veer towards a diverse array of options compared to the ones we presently adopt.
How does fear affect our lives?
From birth, each of us carries the seeds of fear within. This seed reveals itself even in infancy through various manifestations. One such prevalent display is witnessed in the Moro reflex.
Scientists and medical professionals have noted that human babies possess this instinctive fear as a fundamental trait. It surfaces when a baby senses a sensation of falling or slipping, prompting them to clench their fists and cry out. This marks the genesis of fear, often referred to as innate fear.
As we progress from infancy through adolescence, this fear evolves alongside us, and if unchecked, it matures into adulthood. With maturation, it expands beyond the fear of falling or losing grip, extending its influence across all aspects of our lives.
Indeed, various kinds of fear exist, encompassing but not confined to the fear of death, change, the future, and failure.
His book aims to illustrate how these different forms of fear have been assimilated into an arsenal and continually wielded to shape our actions.
Consider, for instance, the fear of death. Death stands as a universal certainty, an eventuality every living person must confront. This universality prompts active contemplation about our mortality.
Two questions arise:
What occurs after my demise? Does a transcendent soul await beyond death?
While for some, these inquiries remain peripheral, for others, they become consuming obsessions, dominating every thought and holding them captive.
Deep within, to varying extents, we all harbor an apprehension of our mortality, living our lives with an underlying anticipation of this inevitability.
The governing forces of society are aware of this truth — our pastors, priests, imams, as well as the president and the aspiring politician next door aiming to become the local MP. They, too, are human and share these very fears.
They have acknowledged the ubiquitous nature of fear. In their respective domains, they’ve grasped the significance of fear and honed the skill of amplifying this emotion to influence your voting preferences or sway you towards embracing specific religious beliefs over others.
Dealing with More Questions about Politics, Religion, and Mortality
The fundamental question emerges: if the fear of death and the afterlife didn’t influence you, would your religious fervor remain the same? Would you even choose to embrace religion at all?
The struggles to meet tithes and the self-denial of pleasures as acts of penance to embody true faith and secure a place in a promised afterlife — would these actions persist if the concept of death and the afterlife were found to be unfounded?
Regarding politics, if the fear of sudden demise due to organized or petty crimes was absent, would your choice of a particular politician still stand?
If assurance existed about a stable economy and job security, would your vote for the same political party in the last election remain unchanged?
The religious leaders recognize that our fear of death and its aftermath drives our attendance at church, and they may exploit this fear.
They cultivate and nourish it by using specific passages from our religious texts, fostering its growth to ensure your adherence to religious doctrines.
Their strategy is straightforward: they magnify this fear until it exerts complete control over people. Then, akin to leading a lamb to slaughter, they assert that there’s only one escape, one solution — the way, the truth, and the life.
Conversely, politicians understand our fears of insecurity, crime, and death, and they amplify these anxieties on the campaign trail.
Eventually, they persuade people that they alone possess the ability to safeguard us from crime and, consequently, from death, leaving us with no choice but to cast our vote in their favor. The same rationale extends to the fears of change, the future, and failure.
Examined closely, almost all our choices are fueled by fear. We attend religious services due to a fear of death and what follows. We pursue educational paths we dislike out of a fear of failure, often influenced by the notion that these courses guarantee success.
Our financial worries and job security sway our political votes. Even in parenting, we share scary tales, masquerading as moral lessons, attempting to instill goodness through fear.
This book aims to demonstrate the world’s intricate mechanisms, revealing its foundation entrenched in fear and enlightening readers about its pervasive influence. Reading the book might give you a practical understanding of how these fears impact diverse facets of our lives.
Conclusions and Takeaways
In conclusion, the book offers a pragmatic roadmap for transcending the pervasive fear the world perpetuates. Escaping this fear begins with acknowledging and embracing its influence.
Much like seeking medical treatment requires acknowledging an illness, confronting fear demands recognizing its existence. The subsequent step involves unraveling the mechanisms of fear and comprehending its multifaceted weldings of control. At this juncture, one can consciously opt out of being a victim.
The crux of this choice lies in optimistic skepticism. We need to embrace doubt — question everything and everyone. We must be relentless in seeking diverse perspectives and answers.
He advises continuously pursuing alternative viewpoints, as true skepticism keeps us ahead of those who thrive on fear.
He stresses “continuously” because the journey toward liberation from fear, the battle to rise above its influence, is perpetual. There is no room for complacency. He believes that vigilance must be unwavering, an ongoing commitment without respite.
The book is available in Kindle and paperback formats on Amazon, or you can order it through his landing page on WordPress.
You can learn more about the background of Dr Emmanuel Ogamdi in his writer bio posted by ILLUMINATION editors on Medium.
I would appreciate your taking the time to explore Dr. Ogamdi's profile and his content in article or book formats.
If you enjoyed this review, you may also check out my recent book review of another accomplished author Thomas Allen Moon.
Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.
To inform my new readers, I wrote numerous articles that might inform and inspire you. My topics include brain and cognitive function, significant health conditions, longevity, nutrition/food, valuable nutrients, ketogenic lifestyle, self-healing, weight management, writing/reading, and humor. 100+ Insightful Life Lessons from My Circles for the Last 50+ Years
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