-
The Delusions of Crowds
- Why People Go Mad in Groups
- Narrated by: Tom Parks
- Length: 17 hrs and 19 mins
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $24.49
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Against the Gods
- The Remarkable Story of Risk
- By: Peter L. Bernstein
- Narrated by: Mike Fraser
- Length: 14 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this unique exploration of the role of risk in our society, Peter Bernstein argues that the notion of bringing risk under control is one of the central ideas that distinguishes modern times from the distant past. Against the Gods chronicles the remarkable intellectual adventure that liberated humanity from oracles and soothsayers by means of the powerful tools of risk management that are available to us today. This brand new audio edition of Bernstein's classic work is masterfully narrated by Mike Fraser.
-
-
Glad it finally got here
- By bda31175 on 10-16-21
-
A Splendid Exchange
- How Trade Shaped the World
- By: William J. Bernstein
- Narrated by: Mel Foster
- Length: 17 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In A Splendid Exchange, William J. Bernstein tells the extraordinary story of global commerce from its prehistoric origins to the myriad controversies surrounding it today. He transports listeners from ancient sailing ships that brought the silk trade from China to Rome in the second century to the rise and fall of the Portuguese monopoly in spices in the 16th.
-
-
Very interesting and Germane to Today's World
- By Mark on 07-18-08
-
Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds
- By: Charles MacKay
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 27 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
People don't change
- By J. on 07-05-16
By: Charles MacKay
-
Noise
- A Flaw in Human Judgment
- By: Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony, Cass R. Sunstein
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 13 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the best-selling author of Thinking, Fast and Slow, the co-author of Nudge, and the author of You Are About to Make a Terrible Mistake! comes Noise, a revolutionary exploration of why people make bad judgments, and how to control both noise and cognitive bias.
-
-
Another masterpiece from Kahneman
- By JDM on 05-21-21
By: Daniel Kahneman, and others
-
How to Think About Money
- By: Jonathan Clements, William J. Bernstein - foreword
- Narrated by: Eric Robertson
- Length: 3 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Want a more prosperous, less stressful financial life? Jonathan Clements, longtime personal-finance columnist for The Wall Street Journal, is here to help. His goal: to provide listeners with a coherent way to think about their finances so they worry less about money, make smarter financial choices, and squeeze more happiness out of the dollars that they have.
-
-
Worth it and I will use this advice
- By B Barns on 06-07-22
By: Jonathan Clements, and others
-
The Four Pillars of Investing
- Lessons for Building a Winning Portfolio
- By: William J. Bernstein
- Narrated by: Scott Pollak
- Length: 12 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
William Bernstein's commonsense approach to portfolio construction has served investors well during the past turbulent decade - and it's what made The Four Pillars of Investing an instant classic when it was first published nearly a decade ago. This down-to-earth book lays out in easy-to-understand prose the four essential topics that every investor must master: the relationship of risk and reward, the history of the market, the psychology of the investor and the market, and the folly of taking financial advice from investment salespeople.
-
Against the Gods
- The Remarkable Story of Risk
- By: Peter L. Bernstein
- Narrated by: Mike Fraser
- Length: 14 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this unique exploration of the role of risk in our society, Peter Bernstein argues that the notion of bringing risk under control is one of the central ideas that distinguishes modern times from the distant past. Against the Gods chronicles the remarkable intellectual adventure that liberated humanity from oracles and soothsayers by means of the powerful tools of risk management that are available to us today. This brand new audio edition of Bernstein's classic work is masterfully narrated by Mike Fraser.
-
-
Glad it finally got here
- By bda31175 on 10-16-21
-
A Splendid Exchange
- How Trade Shaped the World
- By: William J. Bernstein
- Narrated by: Mel Foster
- Length: 17 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In A Splendid Exchange, William J. Bernstein tells the extraordinary story of global commerce from its prehistoric origins to the myriad controversies surrounding it today. He transports listeners from ancient sailing ships that brought the silk trade from China to Rome in the second century to the rise and fall of the Portuguese monopoly in spices in the 16th.
-
-
Very interesting and Germane to Today's World
- By Mark on 07-18-08
-
Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds
- By: Charles MacKay
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 27 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
People don't change
- By J. on 07-05-16
By: Charles MacKay
-
Noise
- A Flaw in Human Judgment
- By: Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony, Cass R. Sunstein
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 13 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the best-selling author of Thinking, Fast and Slow, the co-author of Nudge, and the author of You Are About to Make a Terrible Mistake! comes Noise, a revolutionary exploration of why people make bad judgments, and how to control both noise and cognitive bias.
-
-
Another masterpiece from Kahneman
- By JDM on 05-21-21
By: Daniel Kahneman, and others
-
How to Think About Money
- By: Jonathan Clements, William J. Bernstein - foreword
- Narrated by: Eric Robertson
- Length: 3 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Want a more prosperous, less stressful financial life? Jonathan Clements, longtime personal-finance columnist for The Wall Street Journal, is here to help. His goal: to provide listeners with a coherent way to think about their finances so they worry less about money, make smarter financial choices, and squeeze more happiness out of the dollars that they have.
-
-
Worth it and I will use this advice
- By B Barns on 06-07-22
By: Jonathan Clements, and others
-
The Four Pillars of Investing
- Lessons for Building a Winning Portfolio
- By: William J. Bernstein
- Narrated by: Scott Pollak
- Length: 12 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
William Bernstein's commonsense approach to portfolio construction has served investors well during the past turbulent decade - and it's what made The Four Pillars of Investing an instant classic when it was first published nearly a decade ago. This down-to-earth book lays out in easy-to-understand prose the four essential topics that every investor must master: the relationship of risk and reward, the history of the market, the psychology of the investor and the market, and the folly of taking financial advice from investment salespeople.
-
The Investors Manifesto
- Preparing for Prosperity, Armageddon, and Everything in Between
- By: William Bernstein
- Narrated by: Scott Peterson
- Length: 5 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As recently as a generation or two ago, the lack of financial ability wasn't a handicap for the average person. But in today's world - where most of us have been forced to manage our own investment and retirement portfolios - it has become essential to understand the finer points of our financial life.While the meltdown of 2008 - 2009 has compounded the complexity of the investment landscape, timeless investment principles can help you navigate even the toughest investment terrain.
-
-
Great book, needs pdf files for some stuff.
- By John Doe on 12-29-14
-
Manias, Panics, and Crashes (Seventh Edition)
- A History of Financial Crises
- By: Robert Z. Aliber, Charles P. Kindleberger
- Narrated by: Alister Austin
- Length: 19 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Manias, Panics, and Crashes is a scholarly and entertaining account of the way that mismanagement of money and credit has led to financial explosions over the centuries. This seventh edition of an investment classic has been thoroughly revised and expanded following the latest crises to hit international markets. Renowned economist Robert Z. Aliber introduces the concept that global financial crises in recent years are not independent events, but symptomatic of an inherent instability in the international system.
-
-
Lack of theoretical underpinning
- By Dr. Terence M. Dwyer on 09-20-21
By: Robert Z. Aliber, and others
-
The Bogle Effect
- How John Bogle and Vanguard Turned Wall Street Inside Out and Saved Investors Trillions
- By: Eric Balchunas
- Narrated by: Mike Lenz
- Length: 10 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The index fund was just one innovation fueled by The Vanguard Group founder Jack Bogle's radical idea in 1975 to make investors the actual owners of his new fund company. The end result was powerful: a fund company for the people and by the people. But Bogle's impact and this "great cost migration" reaches well beyond index funds into many other areas, such as active management, ETFs, the advisory world, quantitative investing, ESG, behavioral finance, and even trading platforms.
By: Eric Balchunas
-
Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order
- Why Nations Succeed or Fail
- By: Ray Dalio
- Narrated by: Jeremy Bobb, Ray Dalio
- Length: 16 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From legendary investor Ray Dalio, author of the number-one New York Times best seller Principles, who has spent half a century studying global economies and markets, Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order examines history’s most turbulent economic and political periods to reveal why the times ahead will likely be radically different from those we’ve experienced in our lifetimes - and to offer practical advice on how to navigate them well.
-
-
Ray Dalio, Chinas New Minister of Propoganda
- By Dudley on 01-04-22
By: Ray Dalio
-
Capital Allocators
- How the World’s Elite Money Managers Lead and Invest
- By: Ted Seides
- Narrated by: Ted Seides
- Length: 4 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The chief endowment officers at (CIOs) at endowments, foundations, family offices, pension funds, and sovereign wealth funds are the leaders in the world of finance. They marshal trillions of dollars on behalf of their institutions and influence how capital flows throughout the world. But these elite investors live outside of the public eye. Across the entire investment industry, few participants understand how these holders of the keys to the kingdom allocate their time and their capital.
-
-
Filled with wisdom
- By chris boutte on 05-09-21
By: Ted Seides
-
Devil Take the Hindmost
- A History of Financial Speculation
- By: Edward Chancellor
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 13 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Devil Take the Hindmost is a lively, original, and challenging history of stock market speculation from the 17th century to the present day. Edward Chancellor traces the origins of the speculative spirit back to ancient Rome and chronicles its revival in the modern world.
-
-
Well-picked scenes span tulips up to 20 years ago
- By Philo on 03-07-19
-
The Psychology of Totalitarianism
- By: Mattias Desmet
- Narrated by: Dan Crue
- Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Totalitarianism is not a coincidence and does not form in a vacuum. It arises from a collective psychosis that has followed a predictable script throughout history. In The Psychology of Totalitarianism, world-renowned Professor of Clinical Psychology Mattias Desmet deconstructs the societal conditions that allow this collective psychosis to take hold. By looking at our current situation and identifying the phenomenon of “mass formation”—a type of collective hypnosis—he clearly illustrates how close we are to surrendering to totalitarian regimes.
-
-
A much needed 21st-c update to Hannah Arendt
- By Linda Muller on 06-20-22
By: Mattias Desmet
-
The Misbehavior of Markets
- A Fractal View of Financial Turbulence
- By: Benoit Mandelbrot, Richard L. Hudson
- Narrated by: Jason Olazabal
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In his first book for a general audience, Mandelbrot, with co-author Richard L. Hudson, shows how the dominant way of thinking about the behavior of markets-a set of mathematical assumptions a century old and still learned by every MBA and financier in the world-simply does not work. As he did for the physical world in his classic The Fractal Geometry of Nature, Mandelbrot here uses fractal geometry to propose a new, more accurate way of describing market behavior.
-
-
Mandelbrot is legendary. The reader is out of his depth.
- By blank_by_design on 02-24-20
By: Benoit Mandelbrot, and others
-
Sapiens
- A Brief History of Humankind
- By: Yuval Noah Harari
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 15 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Most books about the history of humanity pursue either a historical or a biological approach, but Dr. Yuval Noah Harari breaks the mold with this highly original book. From examining the role evolving humans have played in the global ecosystem to charting the rise of empires, Sapiens integrates history and science to reconsider accepted narratives, connect past developments with contemporary concerns, and examine specific events within the context of larger ideas.
-
-
Fascinating, despite claims of errors
- By Jonas Blomberg Ghini on 12-09-19
-
Radical Uncertainty
- Decision-Making Beyond the Numbers
- By: John Kay, Mervyn King
- Narrated by: Roger Davis
- Length: 15 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Radical uncertainty changes the way we should think about decision-making. For over half a century economics has assumed that people behave rationally by optimizing among well-defined choices. Behavioral economics questioned how far people are rational, pointing to the cognitive biases that seem to describe actual behavior.
-
-
At 1:23:50: "we must expect ... a virus"
- By Philo on 03-18-20
By: John Kay, and others
-
How Propaganda Works
- By: Jason Stanley
- Narrated by: Tom Parks
- Length: 12 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In How Propaganda Works, Jason Stanley demonstrates that more attention needs to be paid. He examines how propaganda operates subtly, how it undermines democracy - particularly the ideals of democratic deliberation and equality - and how it has damaged democracies of the past.
-
-
Categories: Politics & Social Sciences, Philosophy
- By Amazon Customer on 04-18-21
By: Jason Stanley
-
21 Lessons for the 21st Century
- By: Yuval Noah Harari
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Yuval Noah Harari's 21 Lessons for the 21st Century is a probing and visionary investigation into today's most urgent issues as we move into the uncharted territory of the future. As technology advances faster than our understanding of it, hacking becomes a tactic of war, and the world feels more polarized than ever, Harari addresses the challenge of navigating life in the face of constant and disorienting change and raises the important questions we need to ask ourselves in order to survive.
-
-
Good stuff, but mostly repeats
- By Amazon Customer on 09-13-18
Publisher's Summary
Inspired by Charles Mackay's 19th-century classic Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, Bernstein engages with mass delusion with the same curiosity and passion, but armed with the latest scientific research that explains the biological, evolutionary, and psychosocial roots of human irrationality. Bernstein tells the stories of dramatic religious and financial mania in Western society over the last 500 years - from the Anabaptist Madness that afflicted the Low Countries in the 1530s to the dangerous End-Times beliefs that animate ISIS and pervade today's polarized America; and from the South Sea Bubble to the Enron scandal and dot-com bubbles of recent years. Through Bernstein's supple prose, the participants are as colorful as their motivation, invariably "the desire to improve one's well-being in this life or the next".
As revealing about human nature as they are historically significant, Bernstein's chronicles reveal the huge cost and alarming implications of mass mania: for example, belief in dispensationalist end-times has over decades profoundly affected US Middle East policy. Bernstein observes that if we can absorb the history and biology of mass delusion, we can recognize it more readily in our own time and avoid its frequently dire impact.
More from the same
What listeners say about The Delusions of Crowds
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kenneth B. Morgan
- 07-14-21
Well-Developed and Useful POV
Nice job of weaving together psychological research, historical experiences and case studies to support its primary thesis:
That the madness of crowds is driven by deep-seated human attributes (like insider/outsider thinking), intolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity, and a form of hubris which confuses intelligence and rationality.
Consequently, that mass delusions reappear when certain identified conditions appear in the social, political and economic environment(s).
And, that if you add a dose of Manichaeism to the mix, then the delusions are religious.
The author also argues persuasively that for >40 years US policy-making has been heavily influenced by a particular delusional model - millenial dispensationalism, which is the philisophical source of the evangelical right. In other words, that much of recent US policy is delusional, in a real way.
Not likely to be popular among "true believers" of any stripe [too close to home], but very useful for anyone else trying to understand the root causes of current cultural/political/religious divisions in the USA and elsewhere.
9 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Diesel Monkey
- 03-16-21
Excellent
Humans are just narrative driven Apes 🦍 that tell stories. Great book. Worth the read. Audible hopes you enjoyed this program
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jane
- 08-01-21
Destined to become a classic.
Thoroughly well researched, entertaining and enlightening. I've read some of the author's other books this is the best so far in readability, interest and engagingly presented. The reader is also very good.
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Derrick M Davis
- 09-11-21
A must read (listen) assessment of human behavior
The author provides practical historical evidence, both financial and religious, alongside modern scientific studies to present a sound framework for understanding extreme behavior events.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Bill
- 02-12-22
The Illusion of Delusions
I began this book with high expectations. When Bernstein initiated discussion of neurocognitive factors (amygdala & nucleus acumbens) my interest peaked. I’m intrigued by the biological substrates that weigh in on human behavior. I, naively, expected a plausible hypothesis for the many contradictions between the individual mind & the collective one.
What followed, however, was an exhaustive belch of prattle - literally thousands of words recounting Medieval history in (literally!) explicit, bloody detail. The author’s lengthy bird walks into history (while interesting on their own merit to this former history teacher) did zero to elucidate a central theme, much less suggest a vague thesis.
I suffered every syllable of this book in search of a story. The great irony of it all is this: a book predicated on the power of narrative failed to produce even a flaccid one.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Lloyd E. Peterson
- 08-15-21
Two Thirds is End Times Concepts - Not Financial
Two Thirds is End Times Concepts - Not Financial: And for me that is a good thing.
However, this is not a book about theology, but is a book that explains that factions within each of the three Abrahamic religions are for some reason inspired by the concept of a final reckoning.
I grew up in a Pentecostal church, literally. The parsonage was adjoined to the church. My parents were both ordained Pentecostal ministers. The words premillennialism and eschatology were unknown to me, but basic to what I was taught. I did know about the rapture and some kind of an apocalyptic ending of the world we know. These concepts terrorized my young mind. For fifty years since my decision to abandon the religion of my parents I have been drawn to read what supports my early decision.
I don't see good coming out of leaders using the fears of an apocalyptic ending to our world. I don't think that morality needs these sectarian controls. This book helps the reader discount the powerful delusions leaders of religions we are most familiar with use to great effect.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- YT Chen
- 05-03-22
I can't hear anything on this book!
what the hake?I can't hear anything! please fix it!!!
I bought many books and this is the only one that has this problem
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Michael O
- 03-27-22
Confirmation bias and its role in mass manias and delusions
There are some boring parts to the audio book, perhaps because of the narrator…
Nonetheless, another great gem by William Bernstein. Worth the time to read and think about.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Alednam A Uonopk
- 12-09-21
Worth listening to ..
Interesting take on the delusions created amidst group think. With our current plandemic, it sure looks like history is repeating itself, regardless how much science is out there.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Nathaniel
- 04-06-21
biased
the author is clearly biased and cant lay off what he deemed delusional. could not get past the first few chapters because of the bias.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- John
- 03-19-21
History and psychology
What links the end of the world, tulips, excitable barbershops, kayaks, a Prime Minister and a temple in Jerusalem?
This tome is definitely instructive, and not afraid to pull punches. It does so by exploring historical events and characters, whilst leaving the reader to condemn or forgive lead actors. It's not afraid of tackling religious delusions of all the Abrahamic faiths, that strikes me as courageous.
This leads me onto the pity of this book, the sort of people who ought to read it probably won't. Those people would be outraged by its contents. It's possible to draw a parallel with Richard Dawkins's work, although that certainly did change hearts and minds.
So it's not light reading, but worth the journey.