Collective illusions Conformity, complicity, and the science of why we make bad decisions

Rose, the author of The End of Average (2016), turns his attention to something of particular relevance these days: the tendency of people to make decisions based on what they think other people believe. It's been called "herd behavior" and the "madness of crowds"--the way large numbers of people will follow along with a trend or an idea, no matter how inherently flawed it might be, simply because they think other people are doing it, too. Rose cites numerous examples and studies to back up his thesis. For example, he discusses the hoarding of toilet paper at the outset of COVID-19: even though there was no actual shortage, a "false rumor, spread via social media," convinced people that they needed to buy mass quantities of the product. Rose explores the ways in which our tendency to mistake self-assurance for expertise, to base choices on what we think other people will choose, and to confuse a vocal fringe element for an actual majority cause us to make bad decisions. An eye-opening, thought-provoking book that encourages us to take a good, hard look at ourselves.