The Age of Magical Overthinking by Amanda Montell

The Age of Magical Overthinking

Subtitle: Notes on Modern Irrationality

Author: Amanda Montell

Genre: Nonfiction, Social Commentary

Format: Digital ARC via NetGalley

Publish Date: April 2024

Read: December 2023

Favorite Quote: We’re living in what they call the ‘information age,’ but life only seems to be making less sense. We’re isolated, listless, burnt out on screens, cutting loved ones out like tumors in the spirit of “boundaries,” failing to understand other people’s choices or even our own.

Synopsis: The term “magical thinking” is the belief that one’s internal thoughts can affect external events. In her latest book, Montell takes magical thinking to its next level: magical overthinking. With so much information bombarding us and accessible with a few taps of our fingers, people are beginning to ascribe their beliefs to external events — which is not always reality. The Age of Magical Overthinking dives into the halo effect (why we revere Taylor Swift and Beyonce so much), survivorship bias (why we think those who die or survive are “meant to”), and the overconfidence bias (the Dunning-Kruger effect: the less of an expert you are, the more confident you proclaim to be on a topic).

Magical thinking has its place: when processing grief or experiencing high stress or even trauma. It helps our brains adapt to situations we are unfamiliar with. However, when it feels like all situations are ones we are unfamiliar with, society has become full of magical overthinkers. People manifesting their way out of diseases, into wealth and fortune, or into relationships.

Why does this book beguile? Amanda Montell delivers complex topics with thoughtful nuance and punchy prose in The Age of Magical Overthinking. If you’ve ever met an “astrology girl” or seen a “health-fluencer” on social media and had questions, this is the book for you. In a straightforward yet delicate way, Montell doesn’t discourage anyone from doing things that work for them or make them happy but seeks to add rationality to an increasingly irrational world to help balance the scales.

Rating: 5/5

Link*: The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality by Amanda Montell

If you’re interested in this, read*: Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell