Mental Immunity

Infectious Ideas, Mind-Parasites, and the Search for a Better Way to Think

Andy Norman (Autor)

Buch | Softcover

416 Seiten

2021
Harpercollins (Verlag)
978-0-06-313889-6 (ISBN)

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Astonishingly irrational ideas are spreading. Covid denial persists in the face of overwhelming evidence. Anti-vaxxers compromise public health. Conspiracy thinking hijacks minds and incites mob violence. Toxic partisanship is cleaving nations, and climate denial has pushed our planet to the brink. Meanwhile, American Nazis march openly in the streets, and Flat Earth theory is back. What the heck is going on Why is all this happening, and why now More important, what can we do about it

In Mental Immunity, Andy Norman shows that these phenomena share a root cause. We live in a time when the so-called "right to your opinion" is thought to trump our responsibilities. The resulting ethos effectively compromises mental immune systems, allowing "mind parasites" to overrun them. Conspiracy theories, evidence-defying ideologies, garden-variety bad ideas: these are all species of mind parasite, and each of them employs clever strategies to circumvent mental immune systems. In fact, some of them compromise cultural immune systems - the things societies do to prevent bad ideas from spreading. Norman shows why all of this is more than mere analogy: minds and cultures really do have immune systems, and they really can break down. Fortunately, they can also be built up: strengthened against ideological corruption. He calls for a rigorous science of mental immune health - what he calls "cognitive immunology" - and explains how it could revolutionize our capacity for critical thinking.

Hailed as "a feast for thought," Mental Immunity melds cutting-edge work in science and philosophy into an "astonishingly enlightening and productive" solution to the signature problem of our age. A practical guide to spotting and removing bad ideas, a stirring call to transcend our petty tribalisms, and a serious bid to bring humanity to its senses.

Andy Norman teaches philosophy and directs the Humanism Initiative at Carnegie Mellon University. He's a dynamic presenter who likes to challenge audiences to think hard about reason and faith, science and spirituality, and the natural foundations of ethics. Andy authored the popular "Brainstormin'" column for the Humanist Network News, and works at understanding how ideologies corrupt moral understanding. His work has appeared in Free Inquiry, Essays in the Philosophy of Humanism, and dozens of other journals. Also a serial entrepreneur, Andy built an early "thought processor" for strengthening critical thinking skills. He founded and ran a popular Ultimate Frisbee-based character education programs for children. Andy received his Ph.D. from Northwestern University. He lives in Pittsburgh with his wife of 20 years, two fascinating kids, and a dog that couldn't care less about frisbees.

Erscheint lt. Verlag	2.6.2021
Verlagsort	New York, NY
Sprache	englisch
Maße	153 x 230 mm
Gewicht	418 g
Themenwelt	Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Gesundheit / Leben / Psychologie ► Psychologie
	Geisteswissenschaften ► Philosophie
	Geisteswissenschaften ► Psychologie ► Familien- / Systemische Therapie
	Geisteswissenschaften ► Psychologie ► Sozialpsychologie
	Medizin / Pharmazie ► Gesundheitswesen
ISBN-10	0-06-313889-1 / 0063138891
ISBN-13	978-0-06-313889-6 / 9780063138896
Zustand	Neuware