Understanding Our Cultural Narratives
Issue 21: A Look Into "The Age of Magical Overthinking" by Amanda Montell
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Critical thinking has always been on the forefront of my priorities as somebody that likes to understand the world. However I should emphasise that in the times we are living in now, it should be at the forefront of everyone’s priorities, in my opinion. There is so much information being thrown around, masked often as fact, that if we are not being vigilant we could ultimately pay the price for it. The Age of Magical Overthinking presents several cognitive biases that may be affecting us so long as we’re not aware.
Navigating through the world with a clear idea of your circumstances can ultimately shift the trajectory of our life. If we all participate, then we might see greater shifts overall. However, it’s important to firstly understand how our brains may be interpreting the information around us. Secondly, developing the skills to understand with clarity what our perceptions are telling us would help further along that objective as well. Intention begins with comprehension.
I chose to read Amanda Montell’s The Age of Magical Overthinking since it was recommended on social media by one of the creators I follow. The author touches on various cognitive biases which I thought were well-connected via personal anecdotes in the writing. Even though I felt the book served its purpose, I must admit that I was expecting a little more from the reviews I’d heard. Nonetheless, the book describes the cognitive biases in an accessible way.
To purchase the book from amazon.co.uk, click the affiliate link here.
This Email Covers:
What’s New
Reflections
Insights
Closing Remarks
“The most basic activism we can have in our lives is to live consciously in a nation living in fantasies…. You will face reality, you will not delude yourself.” - Amanda Montell, The Age of Magical Overthinking
What’s New?
Book of the Week:
The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality by Amanda Montell
Personal Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre:
Non-Fiction
Synopsis:
The Age of Magical Overthinking is a critical observation of our current culture, especially the culture that is generated online. Montell discusses her academic findings in a relatable way by applying it both to our every day lives, while simultaneously using examples from her own life to further the reader’s understanding of the concept.
The book engages the reader in various cognitive biases that explain where our cultural narrative may be stemming from, which at this stage, is ever changing at a rapid speed. She also discusses how our narrative would potentially differ if our understanding of those biases be more embedded. By understanding our minds we could potentially help ourselves develop the awareness we need, and navigate our lives in a more grounded way.
This book targets one of the most impactful challenges our society faces today, which is information overload. In a world where information is consistently being projected onto us, cognitive biases are ever more present in our mind’s attempts to absorb all that is coming our way. Montell overall is aiding our ability to make sense of the world around us in this read.
Why We Love It:
Understanding the various cognitive biases is a great start to understanding how our brains operate and function. Although it doesn’t cover the entire spectrum of critical thinking, understanding these biases is a great place to start. In addition, Montell writes in a way that is both relatable but also intellectually challenging enough that the book encourages readers to focus on the subject at hand.
When I saw the book cover, I felt that this was the perfect design for the subject matter. Firstly, I would argue that the book cover is designed to attract the type of target audience that may very well be on the receiving end of more information than is necessary. There are many moving parts to the design that create a frenzied atmosphere - something I believe that our current social media channels also create. Secondly, I felt that the cover (and the chapter titles) also embodied the pop-culture attributes. A big focus in our social media interactions.
Although I think that the book did sent out the message it was intended to, there were moments in this read that I felt came across as somewhat condescending. Since the title, cover, and chapters were all successful in reaching their target audience, I was expecting a slightly different tone in her writing. It was misplaced at times. Although I can understand that perhaps Montell’s beliefs differ to others, there was too much of a negative projection for me. Perhaps the redeeming quality of this book is that at times she also pointed to some of her own cognitive biases that she would go on to rethink.
Key Message:
My interpretation of this week’s read is that we need to develop a greater awareness of the information that’s being projected onto us. Perhaps even to limit the amount of information that is coming towards us. As people, we can only handle so much before our nervous system goes into shock, which affects us deeply.
Understanding cognitive biases goes beyond learning for interest’s sake and should be considered to be necessary, in my opinion. With so many people communicating their messages, it’s up to us to be vigilant on where we place our attention. Ultimately, where we place our attention will affect our lives. Not just for the time we expend, but also the messages that we feed into our subconscious.
Although channels such as social media are a great source of entertainment, the constant shifts and changes are impacting our attention spans, our ability to think for ourselves, as well as how much we create. The more we place ourselves in the role of consumer the less we are available to create, which also puts us at a disadvantage. This book reiterated to me how much more attention we need to reserve for ourselves and what we consider to be important.
We can’t keep feeding our minds with information overload and expect our minds and bodies to be healthy and productive.
Reflections
Quote of the Week:
“Mistaking an anecdote for an objective fact is dubious, but using a story to breathe life into an objective fact is nothing short of magic.” - Amanda Montell, The Age of Magical Overthinking
Reflection Questions:
How does seeing reality for what it is differentiate from leaning into our cognitive biases?
What would the impact result in if we collectively decided to acknowledge our congitive biases?
What aspects of this book did you agree/ disagree with?
Is it possible that cognitive biases came into play when you chose your answers for question 3?
Talks At Google Interview:
Insights
Author Spotlight:
Amanda Montell
Background:
Amanda is a writer and podcast host residing in Los Angeles. Her writing accomplishments include three non-fiction books, one of them being the book that we’re delving ito this week; “The Age of Magical Overthinking. Her writing has further extended to essays which have been published in publications such as The New York Times, HArper’s Bazaar, and others.
Other Works:
Cultish
Wordslut
Beyond the Book:
Amanda Montell also has a podcast:
Closing Remarks
This book is a great introduction into a way of thinking that I think most of us will eventually find ourselves in. If we’re serious about moving forward in our lives, especially if we’re leaning towards a desired trajectory, then we’ll need to be intentional with what media we consume.
I saw recently a creator that stated that although the media may be available for us to consume, it is ultimately our responsibility of whether or not we consume it. We can only blame the media for so much, and to some degree I agree with her. I think that perhaps media is far more of an influence than we even realize. But regarding social media, film, books, music, and influencers, the choice is ours.
If everyone is competing for our attention then why not be intentional with it? With clarity and intention we can accomplish so much more, without any distraction or interference. When we are intentionally choosing creators that resonate and feed us the information that can ultimately better the course of our lives. It’s ultimately why I created Spark Siren.
Until Next Time!
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Keep living life on your terms.
June Tara
Creator of Spark Siren