Collective Illusions

Thanks Netgalley and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I really enjoyed this new book by Todd Rose. I've listened to Rose on some podcasts and generally appreciated his insights so I was keen on trying one of his written works. I think this is a great distillation of cognitive biases and tricks we play on ourselves that affect the way we think. Rose does a great job of highlighting how collective illusions harm us individually and as a society, and the pitfalls that come with not speaking up when you think differently than the crowd. I would definitely recommend this both to people who have no prior knowledge of cognitive science as well as those that do (although those that are already well versed will not find much new here, maybe just packaged in a way that they may find meaningful.)

Interesting Ideas Marred By Author's Dogma. This is one of those books that presents a lot of interesting ideas, and indeed Part I in particular, where Rose is describing the problem and how it works, is quite remarkable. Yet even through this section, there are elements of Rose's partisan blinders (though also some refreshingly positive signs). For one, Rose, while spending an entire book speaking to the ills of conformity, repeatedly appeals to conformity to claim that “the science is settled” on “climate” “science”. Ummm... Yet in the positive column, it is exceedingly rare for someone of Rose's political persuasion to cite the libertarian-based Cato Institute, and Rose actually cites this very organization within this text. It is really in the final third of the book though where Rose's political blinders become most obvious, often citing things in support of his overall narrative seemingly not noticing that doing so fails Occam's Razor - there are far simpler, and therefore more likely correct, answers to some of these things (such as the rise in violent crime during the 2020 COVID lockdowns). Still, Rose actually does present quite a bit here that is absolutely worthy of consideration and discussion, even if he is off at times in certain areas. Very much recommended.