Showing results by author "Charles Mackay" in All Categories

This audiobook is narrated by an AI Voice. Why do entire societies become captivated by irrational beliefs, dangerous speculation, and extraordinary illusions? What drives ordinary people to abandon reason and follow the crowd, even when the consequences can be disastrous? In Memoirs of...

Why do otherwise intelligent individuals form seething masses of idiocy when they engage in collective action? We may think that the Great Crash of 1929, junk bonds of the '80s, and over-valued high-tech stocks of the '90s are peculiarly 20th century aberrations, but Mackay's classic - first published in 1841 - shows that the madness and confusion of crowds knows no limits, and has no temporal bounds.

For centuries in Europe, innocent men and women were murdered for the imaginary crime of witchcraft. This was a mass delusion and moral panic, driven by pious superstition and a deadly commitment to religious conformity. In Witch: A Tale of Terror, best-selling author Sam Harris introduces and reads from Charles Mackay's beloved book, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds.

These two unabridged chapters from Charles Mackay’s two-volume evergreen work, Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds (1841) deal with the disastrous South Sea Bubble and the extraordinary outbreak of Tulipomania in Holland.

Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds is a study on crowd psychology and is extremely relevant to the present day, despite being written back in 1841. It explores how easily we can be misled and how illogically we can think when popular opinion influences us. The central...

Published in 1841 it is a stylish and comprehensive dissection of the witch mania which beset much of Europe in the 16th and 17th century. In his easygoing journalistic style Mackay describes in some detail many celebrated outbreaks of this hysteria including the trials of Dr. Fian and Gellie Duncan in Scotland, the progress of Matthew Hopkins through East Anglia as the self-styled Witch-Finder General, and further episodes in New England, Wurzburg and Geneva. Herein are speeches made from the dock, the scaffold, from the foot of the ‘bonnie fire’ itself, gruesome accounts of the many tortures endured and several chilling spells and incantations.

Charles MacKays insightful work reminds us that Men think in herds; they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one. This classic analysis of human behavior dives deep into the history of nations, revealing how communities can become fixated on singular delusions. From the Crusades to the Witch Mania, MacKay explores eight captivating topics, shedding light on the nature of crowd psychology and its relevance today. His observations about economic bubbles, such as the dot com surge of the late 90s, continue to resonate in our increasingly populated world. Join ...

Delve into the intriguing phenomena of human behavior and societal trends with "Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, Volume 1" as your thematic guide. This podcast invites listeners to explore the fascinating interplay of collective psychology, irrational beliefs, and the peculiar follies that have shaped history. Each episode features a new complete audiobook that examines the myriad ways in which crowds can be swayed by delusions, from economic bubbles to misguided crusades and witch-hunts. This is not a single story but a series of unique explorations that ...

In this thought-provoking work, Charles Mackay explores the fascinating and often absurd world of human behavior through three captivating sections National Delusions, Peculiar Follies, and Philosophical Delusions. He passionately critiques historical phenomena such as alchemy, political and religious influences on beards, witch-hunts, crusades, and duels. Contemporary economists, including Andrew Tobias, have praised his insightful analysis of economic bubbles found in the chapters. Join Mackay as he unravels the madness of crowds and the extraordinary delusions that have shaped our history.

"Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one." "In reading the history of nations, we find that, like individuals, they have their whims and their peculiarities; their seasons of excitement and recklessness, when they care not what they do. We find that whole communities suddenly fix their minds upon one object, and go mad in its pursuit; that millions of people become simultaneously impressed with one delusion, and run after it, till their attention is caught by some new folly more ...