“The people who hold the public purse strings and make decisions about funding mental healthcare and other social services need to read this outstanding book.”
“Slingerland amuses and educates, not just about ethanol excess, but also the relevance for understanding guilty pleasures as a whole, in the present and in its ancient roots.”
Jesse Singal says his “book is an attempt to explain the allure of fad psychology, why that allure is so strong, and how both individuals and institutions can do a better job of resisting it.”
“. . . today’s Americans are embracing a kaleidoscopic panoply of spiritual traditions, rituals, and subcultures from astrology and witchcraft to SoulCycle and the alt-right.”
“what makes this book interesting is that the author has effectively generalized the purpose and behavior of a number of liars throughout the centuries.”
Conformity is both necessary for a society and one of its grave dangers. Cass Sunstein has been interested in this tension for a significant part of his career.
