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A review by peripetia
The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality by Amanda Montell
Did not finish book. Stopped at 5%.
There are a couple reasons why I'm dnf'ing this at like 5%.
First, I just don't think this book is for me. I don't relate. I am not interested enough.
Second, I am becoming increasingly annoyed with the use of "we" and "our society" and other words like that. What do you mean? You obviously do not mean the population of the world but you also do not specify if you're referring to the USA or Western countries (it's obvious that these are the primary target groups). Also, it just feels to me like the "we" and "society" are often the author's Twitter/X echo chamber. This is a general complaint of mine but it did annoy me with this book as well.
Third, I found her use of "science" insufferable. Granted, listening to the audiobook I had no idea if she used any references, but the pseudoscience she parades stands on very skinny legs. I absolutely loathe people using evopsych armchair bullshit theorizing to argue that your specific cultural practice is somehow an evolutionary survival mechanism. The rest of the science thus far has been concepts of popular psychology. I just can't deal with this.
Fourth, the title sounds interesting but the book seems to be more a memoir than research-based non-fiction literature.
Montell is an extremely popular writer and I can see why. Just... not for me.
First, I just don't think this book is for me. I don't relate. I am not interested enough.
Second, I am becoming increasingly annoyed with the use of "we" and "our society" and other words like that. What do you mean? You obviously do not mean the population of the world but you also do not specify if you're referring to the USA or Western countries (it's obvious that these are the primary target groups). Also, it just feels to me like the "we" and "society" are often the author's Twitter/X echo chamber. This is a general complaint of mine but it did annoy me with this book as well.
Third, I found her use of "science" insufferable. Granted, listening to the audiobook I had no idea if she used any references, but the pseudoscience she parades stands on very skinny legs. I absolutely loathe people using evopsych armchair bullshit theorizing to argue that your specific cultural practice is somehow an evolutionary survival mechanism. The rest of the science thus far has been concepts of popular psychology. I just can't deal with this.
Fourth, the title sounds interesting but the book seems to be more a memoir than research-based non-fiction literature.
Montell is an extremely popular writer and I can see why. Just... not for me.