In 1841, Charles MacKay first published Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds. It’s a classic, and remains required reading (and fun, too) for anyone who wants to understand, well, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds.
From Amazon:
“Why do otherwise intelligent individuals form seething masses of idiocy when they engage in collective action? Why do financially sensible people jump lemming-like into hare-brained speculative frenzies- only to jump broker-like out of windows when their fantasies dissolve? We may think that the Great Crash of 1929, junk bonds of the ’80s, and over-valued high-tech stocks of the ’90s are peculiarly 20th century aberrations, but Mackay’s classic – first published in 1841 – shows that the madness and confusion of crowds knows no limits, and has no temporal bounds. These are extraordinarily illuminating, and, unfortunately, entertaining tales of chicanery, greed and naivete. Essential reading for any student of human nature or the transmission of ideas.”
As MacKay explained way back when, idiotic crazes such as global warming hysteria are nothing new. Throughout history, societies have fallen prey to similarly idiotic – yes I’ll say it again – Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds. The book covers witch-burning, dueling, alchemy, the tulip mania, and much more. To these – one more time – Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, a future edition is sure to add a chapter on global warming hysteria.
And don’t get me started about the 53% of Americans who voted for Barack Obama!
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