If You’re A Lemming, Tune In
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- September
- 19
Follow the herd instinct and soon, well, you will become extinct. That’s the message behind the new book, “Mobs, Messiahs, and Markets: Surviving the Public Spectacle in Finance and Politics.”
Lila Rajiva, a journalist who co-authored the book, will be my radio interview guest on “High Noon” tomorrow on WVOX, 1460-AM. The show also streams like at www.wvox.com
Citing scientific studies, the book contends that humans have a difficult time overcoming the “powerful urges” to go along with the crowd, even when the crowd is heading for a cliff. This can lead to personal ruin, the authors say.
They challenge behavioral impulses we normally view as OK—such as believing that each individual’s vote matters in an election and that so-called “do-gooders” are actually dangerous.
They predict that too many people have followed the same pat financial advice, like buying homes they can’t really afford, and that widespread financial ruin is on the horizon.
Sounds like stomach-turning fun, doesn’t it? Well, Rajiva claims she can supply the right antidote. She tells you to go your own way, and will tell you how.
Tune in.
Update: Here’s the podcast of the show:
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on Wednesday, September 19th, 2007 at 7:13 pm by Phil Reisman.
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Phil Reisman is a veteran journalist and native of Westchester County. He began his career in 1977 as the head copy boy of a startup New York City newspaper that quickly went belly up. Reisman was not to blame for the newspaper's failure, or so he claims.
See: “Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds”, 1841
and, ever older, “Confusion de Confusiones”, 1688
Sorry about the chicken blog, Phil. I couldn’t resist.