The Age of Magical Overthinking

Notes on Modern Irrationality

By: Amanda Montell

Narrated by: Amanda Montell

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

From the bestselling author of Cultish and host of the podcast Sounds Like a Cult, a delicious blend of cultural criticism and personal narrative that explores our cognitive biases and the power, disadvantages, and highlights of magical thinking.

Utilizing the linguistic insights of her “witty and brilliant” (Blyth Roberson, author of America the Beautiful?) first book Wordslut and the sociological explorations of her breakout hit Cultish, Amanda Montell now turns her erudite eye to the inner workings of the human mind and its biases in her most personal and electrifying work yet.

“Magical thinking” can be broadly defined as the belief that one’s internal thoughts can affect unrelated events in the external world: think of the conviction that one can manifest their way out of poverty, stave off cancer with positive vibes, thwart the apocalypse by learning to can their own peaches, or transform an unhealthy relationship to a glorious one with loyalty alone. In all its forms, magical thinking works in service of restoring agency amid chaos, but in The Age of Magical Overthinking, Montell argues that in the modern information age, our brain’s coping mechanisms have been overloaded, and our irrationality turned up to an eleven.

In a series of razor sharp, deeply funny chapters, Montell delves into a cornucopia of the 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 we’ve realized they’re not serving us. As she illuminates these concepts with her signature brilliance and wit, Montell’s prevailing message is one of hope, empathy, and ultimately forgiveness for our anxiety-addled human selves. If you have all but lost faith in our ability to reason, Montell aims to make some sense of the senseless. To crack open a window in our minds, and let a warm breeze in. To help quiet the cacophony for a while, or even hear a melody in it.

©2024 Amanda Montell (P)2024 Simon & Schuster Audio

Sorry. I could not make it out of the first chapter

I am pretty sure that I am not the target audience for this book. The premise seems good, but it does not start strong.

This was a memoir pretending to be something more scientific

I get what she was trying to do but it fell flat because I didn’t pick up this book to hear personal stories from the author but I wanted to be well thorough researched book from someone that’s knowledgeable about the subject. The author was decidedly, not.

Nothing new

I really enjoyed her last book but found that while there were some interesting new points here, particularly about social media, the book was mostly rehashing a lot of pop psychology concepts.

Me encantó

Definitivamente es un gran libro, me motivó a comenzar a seguir a la escritora. Lo recomiendo.

Not as magical as I had hoped

I almost turned this off early in my listen. I stuck it out. Some good stuff. Amid some meh stuff. I’m sure everyone will react personally to the anecdotes shared.

Great concepts that needed to be explored deeper

I think another narrator would be beneficial as well as less personal fluff. I would have appreciated further explanation into the topics. Especially the topic of flow.

timely, sincere and funny

We all can use help understanding our thoughts, biases and worries. Today’s contentious atmosphere makes matters worse. This book is a delightful way to contemplate how we can all do better

Her voice!

I like the way Amanda Montell tells her stories. She helped me see how irrational we are as humans.

The Author has definitely stumbled on some very important issues in the Irrationality present in 21st Century.

Celebrity Culture The Sunk Cost Fallacy, the sensory overload we’re faced with every day. I was wrong!

She turned the whole book into a cutesy bio of a woman leading an incredibly uninteresting life. It would have been better if she honestly shelved it as Ditzy Biography so I could have avoided it completely. She has nothing to say.

2 1/2 Stars, ***¥ ugh

Thoroughly Enjoyable

This book is a delightful blend of research-backed observations, witty insights, and touching personal tales. While Amanda Montell has a sharp and impressive way with words, her style remains welcoming and relatable. Her narrative voice is soothing and entertaining to boot. Bravo! 10/10 recommend.