The Delusions of Crowds: Why People Go Mad in Groups

William Bernstein explores the biological, evolutionary, and psychosocial roots of human irrationality, telling the stories of religious and financial mania in Western society over the last 500 years. He reveals the cost and implications of mass mania and suggests that by understanding the history and biology of mass delusion, we can recognize it more readily in our own time and avoid its dire impact.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 496 pages
Publication date: 03 February 2022
Publisher: Grove Press / Atlantic Monthly Press

Inspired by Charles Mackay's 19th-century classic "Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds," William Bernstein delves into the realm of mass delusion with a blend of curiosity and passion, armed with the latest scientific research that unravels the biological, evolutionary, and psychosocial roots of human irrationality. In his captivating narrative, Bernstein explores the tales of dramatic religious and financial mania that have plagued Western society over the past five centuries. From the Anabaptist Madness that struck the Low Countries in the 1530s to the dangerous end-times beliefs that animate ISIS and permeate today's polarized nations; and from the South Sea Bubble to the Enron scandal and the {URL} bubbles of recent years, Bernstein vividly recounts these historical events. Through his supple prose, the participants in these delusions come alive, driven by a common desire to enhance their well-being in this life or the next. These chronicles, as enlightening as they are historically significant, shed light on the profound cost and alarming implications of mass mania. Bernstein observes that by comprehending the history and biology of mass delusion, we can become more attuned to its presence in our own time and mitigate its often devastating consequences.

Weight: 466g
Dimension: 498 x 198 x 38 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781611854435
Edition number: Main