The Delusions of Crowds

Why People Go Mad in Groups

By: William J. Bernstein

Narrated by: Tom Parks

Length: 17 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

Inspired by Charles Mackay's 19th-century classic Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, Bernstein engages with mass delusion with the same curiosity and passion, but armed with the latest scientific research that explains the biological, evolutionary, and psychosocial roots of human irrationality. Bernstein tells the stories of dramatic religious and financial mania in Western society over the last 500 years - from the Anabaptist Madness that afflicted the Low Countries in the 1530s to the dangerous End-Times beliefs that animate ISIS and pervade today's polarized America; and from the South Sea Bubble to the Enron scandal and dot-com bubbles of recent years. Through Bernstein's supple prose, the participants are as colorful as their motivation, invariably "the desire to improve one's well-being in this life or the next".

As revealing about human nature as they are historically significant, Bernstein's chronicles reveal the huge cost and alarming implications of mass mania: for example, belief in dispensationalist end-times has over decades profoundly affected US Middle East policy. Bernstein observes that if we can absorb the history and biology of mass delusion, we can recognize it more readily in our own time and avoid its frequently dire impact.

©2021 William J. Bernstein (P)2021 Tantor

A must read (listen) assessment of human behavior

The author provides practical historical evidence, both financial and religious, alongside modern scientific studies to present a sound framework for understanding extreme behavior events.

Good update to Original, but biased at the end

Excellent reader.

Excellent update on the original 1800s version, especially as it relates to 20th century scientific studies on human reasoning as they relate to human delusions. Provided some interesting historical notes that I was not aware of, such as Churchill being in NYC for the Oct 1929 market crash.

Author’ academic political bias comes out in the later parts, specifically in Chap 13 and 14. He shows contempt for the financing of the 1980-1990s economic boom as being one of greed and the President Reagan being a nuclear war advocate and religious right wing believer. Best skip listening to those two chapters.

Disappointed that he failed to address the 21st century delusions of crowds from end-of-the-world environmentalIsm, and COVID. especially given the book’s publication date of 2021. I guest that the author like his 1800s predecessor, can’t discern delusion he buys into.

That said the book is well worth the listen particularly chapters 1-12 for the economic and religious histories and his four P’s of a delusion.

Destined to become a classic.

Thoroughly well researched, entertaining and enlightening. I've read some of the author's other books this is the best so far in readability, interest and engagingly presented. The reader is also very good.

interesting but tedious

interesting and very relevant today, but boring at times.... great level of detail and insightful connections are made

Well-Developed and Useful POV

Nice job of weaving together psychological research, historical experiences and case studies to support its primary thesis:

That the madness of crowds is driven by deep-seated human attributes (like insider/outsider thinking), intolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity, and a form of hubris which confuses intelligence and rationality.

Consequently, that mass delusions reappear when certain identified conditions appear in the social, political and economic environment(s).

And, that if you add a dose of Manichaeism to the mix, then the delusions are religious.

The author also argues persuasively that for >40 years US policy-making has been heavily influenced by a particular delusional model - millenial dispensationalism, which is the philisophical source of the evangelical right. In other words, that much of recent US policy is delusional, in a real way.

Not likely to be popular among "true believers" of any stripe [too close to home], but very useful for anyone else trying to understand the root causes of current cultural/political/religious divisions in the USA and elsewhere.

Good topic, too much detail

Very heavy on details in many of the chapters related to the examples used to highlight the points of the book (mostly historical religious and financial industry stories). Sometimes boring and difficult to focus on the key points if you are not interested in these areas.

Great listen

Outstanding listen, seems to be well researched and the performance of the narrator was great.

Worth listening to ..

Interesting take on the delusions created amidst group think. With our current plandemic, it sure looks like history is repeating itself, regardless how much science is out there.

Excellent

Humans are just narrative driven Apes 🦍 that tell stories. Great book. Worth the read. Audible hopes you enjoyed this program

Confirmation bias and its role in mass manias and delusions

There are some boring parts to the audio book, perhaps because of the narrator…
Nonetheless, another great gem by William Bernstein. Worth the time to read and think about.