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I‘m fascinated by cognitive biases, so this was right up my alley. She covered how these biases show up when we interact with social and digital media & how we interpret everyday things in person. I was really interested in her discussion of positive thinking and cancer. She talked about the need to be positive and put on a brave face, but that actually gives a false impression of just how difficult treatment is or how well people are coping.

You definitely get five stars for changing and enlarging my perspective so much that I am no longer the same person.

I L O V E D this.

Once upon a time, I low-key also got a political science degree (even though I'm always shouting about art history) and so actually I've learned a bit about cognitive biases in an academic setting -- and yet, Amanda Montell should have been the one to teach me everything, because now I actually understand ??

Thanks for putting this on my radar @Megabooks - I loved it!

This time the author looks at the biases caused by our own over-thinking brains, particularly in this social-media obsessed age. Although I don‘t do that much social media, I do more than my fair share of over-thinking so I felt very seen, and also very re-assured.

As usual, I loved the author‘s narration on the audio.

I can‘t get enough of Amanda Montell. In our current time of information onslaught, we are all overstimulated little fish swimming in uncharted waters. Her perspective on how our brains are handling the internet, celebrity worship, overconfidence in the age of selfies, etc…is validating and a huge relief. Somebody to make sense of it all for us!

Loved it. Really I love reading anything she writes (though I'll admit I still haven‘t read Wordslut!). I‘ve seen reviews grumbling that in this she just gathers well-known social science concepts in one readable place…and?! That‘s a great thing to do, in my book! Furthermore, these are not well known by everyone, and having a nicely organized compendium of such concepts blended with reflective memoiry bits is just a good, thought-provoking time.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ In her third book, linguist Amanda Montell dives into the irrational human mind: cognitive biases, magical thinking, anxiety, imposter syndrome, and more. Informative, smart, and witty, this is precisely how I like to expand my mind and learn about human behaviors. Not only a must-read author for me, but a must-buy as well. If you haven‘t listened to her pod, Sounds Like a Cult, you 100% should!

The sun came out, rain is forecasted for the whole week cuz why not just April out the month of April 🤦🏻‍♀️ I LOVE Amanda Montell, this book is just buzzing around in my brain making sense of the world and me. Two big take aways for me; nostalgia can be toxic ( Make ______ Great Again) and shared experiences don‘t unite us like in the past (see pandemic) because individuals see things through their personal lens and won‘t be swayed by facts

Snow White bag #11 Dopey has arrived, all dwarves are accounted for and more roofing has gone up. I love Amanda Montell books

I‘m glad I‘m not the only one who exhausts herself with thought

This is a great read so far! 🌼

I got to see Amanda Montell at Powell‘s last night with Chelsea Bieker! It was such a great event and I can‘t wait to dive into Amanda‘s new book!

This was a very quick, enjoyable read — I started last night, couldn‘t sleep, and finished it around 3:00am. I love Montell‘s blend of nonfiction concepts and personal history. In this one, she tackles cognitive biases such as the halo effect, sunk cost fallacy, and survivorship bias, making each concept clear with examples from her life. Montell narrates the audiobook and is engaging and relaxed.

Montell is just brilliant! Truly one of the best nonfiction writers around today. I‘ve only had four 5⭐️ books this year, and this is 💯 one of them.

Montell explores various psychological traps we tend to fall into, especially on social media where fake gurus abound. She illustrates with examples from her own life and other folks‘. Some traps covered: sunk cost fallacy, survivorship bias, and zero-sum bias. A must read!!

What does our worship (or opposite) of Taylor Swift have to do with the Halo Effect? What does AI mean for our love of tactile work aka the IKEA Effect? In these essays on cognitive biases in our modern age, Cultish author Amanda Montell pulls together memoir, cultural criticism, and social science and blazes new neural pathways to identifying and understanding these “mental magic tricks” we pull on ourselves, to lively, accessible effect.