The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality by Amanda Montell: nonfiction review
The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality by Amanda Montell Overview: "Magical thinking" is the belief that particular words, thoughts, emotions, or beliefs can have a material difference on the outcome of our actual lives–that our thoughts have particular influence on the world around us. It's a common trait among kids, and, more detrimentally, goes hand in hand with mental illnesses like OCD. It is also, as Montell points out, largely promoted by the internet. While not solely focused on magical thinking, that is a solid starting point to explain this book which uses both linguistic and sociological frameworks to capture the weird ways that internet culture messes with our brains and influences our worldview. If you are hyper-online, you'll probably find this to be a real gem. Overall: 4 Notes: Instead of a comprehensive overview of the book, for this review, I wanted to discuss a couple chapters that stood out to me. The book opens with a dis