A review by nclcaitlin
The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality by Amanda Montell

2.75

This was almost like listening to a friend’s voice notes. In this sense, I would say this didn’t always border on a factual nonfiction account. It is more like a personal outlook, memoir, rant on society. 

Taking us through relatable Taylor Swift fanatics, conspiracy theories, YouTube spirals, influencers, political movements, and even therapy, there is definitely something in here everyone will have experience with. 

Montell discusses mental health, behavioral science, misinformation, and online culture so prevalent in the 2020s. For our survival, we have developed shortcuts - or, more aptly described, cognitive biases - which has led to an influx of internal stresses and social acceptance or rejection. 

It’s become almost impossible to separate truth from marketing ploys, so cynicism becomes our best friend. Everything seems to be a crisis, pushed along by attention spans that continue to shrink.

The brain is perennially odd about time.

It defaults to hyper dramatising the present, glorifying the past, and devaluing the future.

I loved Montell acknowledges we prefer personal relevance over facts. Anecdotes. Frequency bias. Nostalgia. Sunk cost fallacy. 

Toxic relationships are just a cult of one.

I think Wordslut remains my favourite by her, but this short book was very interesting. Like a look into Montell’s mind. 

That’s the most important thing I took away - what is someone else’s truth may not be ‘the’ truth. De-influence. 

For that reason, I think this book falls into the very thing it warns against. There are too many mentions of her ‘Backpack Boyfriend’ and her own experiences for it to achieve what it claims to be.