The Age of Magical Overthinking
Clever
Creative
Witty

The Age of Magical Overthinking Notes on Modern Irrationality

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.
Sign up to use

Reviews

Photo of Rebecca Lum
Rebecca Lum@reblum
4 stars
Oct 3, 2024
Photo of Paige Leitner
Paige Leitner@pleitner
5 stars
Jun 13, 2024
Witty
Profound
Inventive
Contemplative
Photo of Marisa clarke
Marisa clarke@mclarke
5 stars
May 30, 2024
Witty
Clever
Candid
Creative
Compelling
Fast paced
Photo of Karolina
Karolina@fox
4.5 stars
May 25, 2024
Clever
Honest
Creative
Educational
Photo of Alli
Alli@maybeitsalli
4 stars
May 15, 2024
Photo of auri 🪐
auri 🪐@luthoreads
4.5 stars
May 7, 2024
Photo of Lindsey Barnett
Lindsey Barnett@lindseybarnett
3 stars
Nov 14, 2024
Conceptual
Photo of Nikki Berra
Nikki Berra@nikkiberra
5 stars
Oct 5, 2024
Photo of Haritha R
Haritha R@haritha4may
4 stars
Sep 20, 2024
Photo of Abby Brake
Abby Brake@abbycadabby
4.5 stars
Sep 10, 2024
Photo of CJ Clark
CJ Clark@cobes_reading_queue
5 stars
Sep 3, 2024
Photo of Annabelle Kortum
Annabelle Kortum@akortum
3.5 stars
Aug 28, 2024
Photo of Calista
Calista@calistaaa
4 stars
Aug 23, 2024
Photo of Kelly Bergh
Kelly Bergh@kellybergh
3.5 stars
Jul 4, 2024
Photo of Maureen Carter
Maureen Carter@letsmosy
3.5 stars
May 20, 2024
Photo of Mari🦇 🤎🗡️
Mari🦇 🤎🗡️@cupidsmom
5 stars
May 20, 2024
Complex
Inventive
Remarkable
Photo of Emily Wood
Emily Wood@emwood95
4.5 stars
May 11, 2024
Photo of Laura Mei
Laura Mei@thelibrariansnook
3.5 stars
Apr 29, 2024
Photo of death nurse
death nurse@deathnurse
2 stars
Apr 19, 2024
Photo of Jillian McParland
Jillian McParland@jillianmac
3 stars
Apr 18, 2024

Highlights

Photo of Rebecca Lum
Rebecca Lum@reblum
Page 201
Photo of Karolina
Karolina@fox
Page 218
Photo of Karolina
Karolina@fox
Page 148
Photo of Karolina
Karolina@fox
Page 147
Photo of Mari🦇 🤎🗡️
Mari🦇 🤎🗡️@cupidsmom
Photo of Mari🦇 🤎🗡️
Mari🦇 🤎🗡️@cupidsmom