The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality

di Amanda Montell (Autore)

Thorsons, 2024

In the modern information age, our brain’s coping mechanisms have been overloaded, and our irrationality turned up to eleven. Amanda Montell blends cultural criticism and personal narrative to explore our modern cognitive biases and the power, disadvantages and highlights of magical overthinking. "Magical thinking" can be broadly defined as the belief that one's internal thoughts can affect unrelated events in the external world. Whether that's "manifesting" their way out of poverty, staving off cancer with positive vibes, or transforming an unhealthy relationship to a glorious one through loyalty alone. In a series of razor sharp and introspective chapters, Montell delves into cognitive biases that run rampant in our brains, from how the "halo effect" cultivates worship (and hatred) of larger-than-life celebrities, to how the "sunk cost fallacy" can keep us in detrimental relationships long after they no longer serve us. Told with her signature brilliance and wit, Montell's prevailing message is one of hope and forgiveness for our anxiety riddled human self. If you have all but lost faith in our ability to reason through the noise of information overload, this book aims to make sense of the senseless. To crack open a window in our minds and let the fresh air in. To help quiet the cacophony for a while, and maybe, even hear a melody in it. In The Age of Magical Overthinking, Amanda Montell explores the themes of personal growth and self-help, using humour and criticism to dissect popular culture and the celebrity phenomenon. She delves into the science and psychology behind our cognitive biases, offering a literary take on these non-fiction subjects. For fans of Viktor E. Frankl (Yes To Life In Spite of Everything), Robert B. Cialdini (Pre-Suasion), Chris Bailey (How to Calm Your Mind), Anna Bogutskaya (Unlikeable Female Characters), and Laura Bates (Fix the System, Not the Women). HarperCollins 2024 To help quiet the cacophony for a while, or even hear a melody in it. HarperCollins 2024

• Autore: Amanda Montell
• Durata in (hh:mm:ss): 06:02:34
• Anno edizione: 2024
• Editore: Thorsons
• EAN: 9780008701147

Testo in en