Copycats and Contrarians

Why We Follow Others... and When We Don't

By: Michelle Baddeley

Narrated by: Cat Gould

Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's Summary

A multidisciplinary exploration of our human inclination to herd and why our instinct to copy others can be dangerous in today's interlinked world.

Rioting teenagers, tumbling stock markets, and the spread of religious terrorism appear to have little in common, but all are driven by the same basic instincts: the tendency to herd, follow, and imitate others. In today's interconnected world, group choices all too often seem maladaptive. With unprecedented speed, information flashes across the globe and drives rapid shifts in group opinion. Adverse results can include speculative economic bubbles, irrational denigration of scientists and other experts, seismic political reversals, and more.

Drawing on insights from across the social, behavioral, and natural sciences, Michelle Baddeley explores contexts in which behavior is driven by the herd. She analyzes the rational vs nonrational and cognitive vs emotional forces involved, and she investigates why herding only sometimes works out well. With new perspectives on followers, leaders, and the pros and cons of herd behavior, Baddeley shines vivid light on human behavior in the context of our ever-more-connected world.

©2018 Michelle Baddeley (P)2018 Tantor

Author has a blatant left leaning bias.

I really wanted to enjoy this book but the author clearly could not restrain her political bias in the process of writing this book which makes me question if I actually learned anything. I am not one that leans to the right or to any side for that matter politically speaking but when I see bias it makes me skeptical that everything presented might be just a backhand attempt to sway opinions rather than give knowledge. Considering the subject matter one would think that the author would know better than to do this which leads me to the conclusion that it is either written for people who enjoy left leaning ideology in books or it is written to sway the opinion or people new to the subject matter to connect themselves with leftist axioms.

Could have been a good book and it is a shame.

Interesting book but awful audio

Unfortunately the person reading this book was awful and made it very hard to absorb the information. There was a lot of confusing intonation and emphasis that jarred the ears and brain.

Thought provoking.

I saw a copy of this book in a book shop, read the extract and thought this might offer an insight to the world in which we now live seemingly dominated by herding behaviour. i e. in the UK the phenominum of Jeremy Corbyn. I was not disappointed . It would be helpful if this text could be use in our schools to educate our children/grandchildren into the dangers of accepting views from adults/social media etc. without questioning the validity of views expressed. As an aged listener I will go through this book again to ensure I fully understand the messages presented.