Thinking About How We Think, With Wit and Wisdom
Have you ever found yourself obsessively analyzing a text message exchange, convinced you can deduce hidden meanings from the placement of a single emoji? Or perhaps you’ve engaged in elaborate rituals before a big event, certain that wearing your lucky socks will tilt the cosmic scales in your favor? If so, congratulations – you’re a card-carrying member of the magical overthinking club. And according to Amanda Montell’s insightful and wickedly funny new book, you’re far from alone.
In The Age of Magical Overthinking, Montell turns her keen eye and razor-sharp wit to the weird and wonderful ways our minds work (and sometimes malfunction) in the modern world. Building on themes from her previous bestsellers Wordslut and Cultish, Montell explores how our brains’ ancient coping mechanisms clash spectacularly with the information overload of the digital age. The result? A perfect storm of cognitive biases, magical thinking, and good old-fashioned overthinking that leaves us all a bit unmoored.
A Tour Through the Funhouse Mirror of the Human Mind
Montell structures the book as a series of essays, each tackling a different cognitive quirk or bias. From the halo effect that leads us to worship (or hate) celebrities with religious fervor, to the sunk cost fallacy keeping us trapped in dead-end relationships, no mental foible is safe from her scrutiny.
But this isn’t just a dry recitation of psychological concepts. Montell brings each bias to vivid life through a combination of cultural commentary, personal anecdotes, and interviews with experts. Her writing crackles with energy and humor, making even complex ideas accessible and entertaining.
Take her chapter on the “IKEA effect,” which explores our tendency to overvalue things we’ve had a hand in creating. Montell recounts her pandemic-era adventures in furniture flipping, painting a hilariously self-deprecating picture of her transformation into an aspiring DIY goddess. “I’d wear tasseled kaftans and dwell in a yurt that doubled as my craft studio,” she muses. “I’d macramé shawls. I’d throw pottery. I’d keep goats.”
It’s laugh-out-loud funny, but it also illuminates a deeper truth about human nature and our need to feel like we’re shaping the world around us. This blend of humor and insight is Montell’s superpower, allowing her to tackle weighty subjects with a light touch.
A Voice for Our Overthinking Times
What sets The Age of Magical Overthinking apart is Montell’s voice. She writes with the warmth and candor of a friend, freely sharing her own struggles with anxiety and irrational thinking. This vulnerability creates an instant connection with the reader, making it feel less like a lecture and more like a lively conversation over coffee.
Montell’s background in linguistics shines through in her playful approach to language. She coins delightful terms like “anemoia” (nostalgia for a time you’ve never known) and proposes “tempusur” to describe “an elusive nostalgia for the current moment, so precious in its ephemerality that the second you notice it, it’s already slipped away.” It’s this kind of creativity that makes the book such a joy to read.
More Than Just Millennial Navel-Gazing
While Montell’s perspective is undeniably shaped by her experiences as a millennial woman, the book’s appeal is far broader. She deftly weaves in historical context, showing how magical thinking and cognitive biases have shaped human behavior throughout the ages.
For instance, her exploration of the “illusory truth effect” (our tendency to believe information simply because we’ve heard it repeated) takes us from medieval myths about smelly brides to modern-day conspiracy theories. It’s a sobering reminder that our susceptibility to misinformation isn’t new – we’re just dealing with it on an unprecedented scale thanks to social media.
A Call for Compassion in the Face of Irrationality
Perhaps the book’s greatest strength is its underlying message of empathy. Montell doesn’t mock our tendency towards magical thinking or irrational beliefs. Instead, she encourages us to approach our own minds (and those of others) with curiosity and compassion.
“If changing your mind means losing your ‘tribe,’ it’s not worth it,” she writes, explaining why people cling to beliefs even in the face of contradictory evidence. It’s a powerful reminder that human behavior, no matter how baffling, usually has an understandable root.
Not Just Analysis, But Action
While The Age of Magical Overthinking is primarily focused on understanding why we think the way we do, Montell doesn’t leave us hanging. Each chapter includes practical strategies for recognizing and mitigating our cognitive biases.
Some suggestions are playful, like her tongue-in-cheek advice to “stoop below average at 50 percent of all we do” as an antidote to overconfidence bias. Others are more profound, like her call to cultivate awe as a way to break out of present bias and negativity spirals.
A Few Nitpicks in an Otherwise Stellar Read
If there’s a criticism to be made, it’s that Montell occasionally falls into the trap she’s warning against. Her analysis of certain cultural phenomena (like the resurgence of “tradwife” aesthetics) can feel a bit reductive, failing to fully explore the complex factors at play.
Additionally, while her personal anecdotes are generally engaging, a few veer into territory that feels more self-indulgent than illustrative. These are minor quibbles, however, in an otherwise stellar book.
The Verdict: A Must-Read for the Perpetually Perplexed
The Age of Magical Overthinking is a rare breed—a book that’s both intellectually stimulating and genuinely fun to read. Montell has a gift for making complex psychological concepts not just digestible, but downright delicious.
Whether you’re a fellow overthinker looking for solidarity, a psychology buff hungry for fresh insights, or simply someone trying to make sense of the increasingly nonsensical world around us, this book has something to offer. It’s a warm, witty, and ultimately hopeful exploration of what it means to be human in an age that often feels anything but rational.
Who Should Read This Book:
- Chronic overthinkers (you know who you are)
- Anyone fascinated by the quirks of human psychology
- Pop culture enthusiasts who enjoy a side of cognitive science with their commentary
- Readers who appreciate humor and vulnerability in their non-fiction
- Anyone who’s ever fallen down an internet rabbit hole and wondered, “How did I get here?”
Similar Books to Explore:
- Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
- Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely
- The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt
- Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell (the author’s previous book)
Final Thoughts: A Balm for Our Collective Cognitive Dissonance
In a world that often feels like it’s teetering on the edge of reason, The Age of Magical Overthinking offers a much-needed reality check. But rather than leaving us despairing at the limits of human rationality, Montell’s work is oddly comforting. By shining a light on the common quirks and biases we all share, she reminds us of our shared humanity.
As Montell writes in her conclusion, “The world can be so humbling, but only if you let it humble you.” This book does just that—gently nudging us towards a more nuanced understanding of ourselves and others. It’s a valuable addition to the conversation around mental health, cognitive science, and what it means to be human in the digital age.
So the next time you find yourself spiraling into an overthinking vortex, remember—you’re not alone. We’re all just trying to make sense of a senseless world, one cognitive bias at a time. And thanks to Amanda Montell, we now have a roadmap (and a few laughs) to help us along the way.