Mental Immunity: Infectious Ideas, Mind-Parasites, and the Search for a Better Way to ...

Books

Foreword by Steven Pinker A philosopher shows how to rid ourselves of breaks in logic that cause destructive thinking and extremism, and provides the tools to inoculate our minds and keep them safe from becoming infected by bad ideas. Why do people reject science and believe conspiracy theories they see on social media? How do people become so radicalized online that they commit acts of violence? Why is our society so politically polarized? How has a growing percentage of Americans become unhinged? Andy Norman has spent years studying the destructive forces that can flip the minds of sensible people to understand how they take hold. He calls them mind-parasites, ideas that can poison our thinking and leave us more susceptible to wild conspiracies, lead us to reject scientific evidence, and convince us to double down on unfounded beliefs. Norman breaks down this troubling trend that has dangerously riven our society and charts a course forward. Just as the body can be weakened by foreign organisms that ...