The Madness of Crowds

What Hacker News says

1. quirkFeb 2024
   Douglas Murray's book "The Madness of Crowds" explains this very succinctly. On the other side of the political aisle you could reference the pro-life-only voting block who now finds themselves trying to raise money on an issue that has been resolved (in their minds). "Dog Catches Car" is the headline for all of these issues.
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2. hombre_fatalOct 2020
   For your last paragraph, check out Douglas Murray's Madness of Crowds (best consumed as audiobook imo): https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Madness-of-Crowds-Audiobook/1...

   Great analysis of how we got here.

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3. lowdoseSep 2020
   > In essence, some experts say, they are quietly adopting the Swedish approach.

   https://archive.is/5uC31

   This is great news and honestly the whole Covid19 situation has been the first subject I systematically censured myself because of the amount of downvotes here on HN.

   We are all human, this book "Madness of Crowds" gave me most insight last half year.

   https://www.amazon.com/Madness-Crowds-Gender-Race-Identity/d...

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4. emehexDec 2019
   • The Madness of Crowds by Douglas Murray

   • Consciousness by Annaka Harris

   • More From Less by Andrew McAffee

   • The School of Life: An Emotional Education

   • Perfect Sound Whatever by James Acaster

   • Humble Pi by Matt Parker

   • The Last Pirate of New York by Rich Cohen

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5. peterspathDec 2025
   I read 52 books this year:

   - Be Useful by Arnold Schwarzenegger

   - Discipline Equals Freedom by Jocko Willink

   - Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink

   - The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt

   - The Coddling of the American Mind by Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff

   - When the Body Says No by Gabor Maté

   - Dopamine Nation by Anna Lembke

   - The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer

   - Standing Strong by John MacArthur

   - The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis

   - We Who Wrestle with God by Jordan B. Peterson

   - I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist by Norman L. Geisler and Frank Turek

   - The Holy Bible

   - Son of Hamas by Mosab Hassan Yousef

   - I Am Giorgia by Giorgia Meloni

   - 12 Years a Slave by Solomon Northup

   - The Two-Income Trap by Elizabeth Warren

   - The Strange Death of Europe by Douglas Murray

   - The Madness of Crowds by Douglas Murray

   - The War on the West by Douglas Murray

   - Porn Generation by Ben Shapiro

   - The Authoritarian Moment by Ben Shapiro

   - The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

   - In Farleigh Field by Rhys Bowen

   - Darkest Hour by Anthony McCarten

   - Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

   - The Secret of Secrets by Dan Brown

   - Casino Royale by Ian Fleming

   - Live and Let Die by Ian Fleming

   - Moonraker by Ian Fleming

   - Diamonds Are Forever by Ian Fleming

   - From Russia with Love by Ian Fleming

   - Dr No by Ian Fleming

   - Goldfinger by Ian Fleming

   - For Your Eyes Only by Ian Fleming

   - Thunderball by Ian Fleming

   - The Spy Who Loved Me by Ian Fleming

   - On Her Majesty's Secret Service by Ian Fleming

   - You Only Live Twice by Ian Fleming

   - The Man with the Golden Gun by Ian Fleming

   - Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

   - Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

   - Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

   - The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

   - The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

   - The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

   - Moby-Dick by Herman Melville

   - 1984 by George Orwell

   - The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

   - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

   - The Time Machine by H.G. Wells

   Next year I will read more books of the Russian writers on this list. I enjoyed those books very much.

   After seeing this list, what books do you recommend for me?

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6. YetanfouNov 2020
   You reason why you think the book is not worth reading, which is fine with me. Reasoning why other people should not read the book is fine as well. As far as I'm concerned you're free to picket in front of the book store with a sign "don't buy this book", all of this falls under freedom of expression which is - barring illegal actions - a given as far as I'm concerned. What is not OK is to call for a book to be banned so others can not read it even if they want to. There are many books out there which espouse ideas which I do not hold with but I will not call for them to be banned.

   I will not go too far into the whole 'trans issue' since that is a minefield which can not be negotiated without having a current map which is likely to try to send me ways I'd rather not tread. What little experience I have with the phenomenon tells me that people who were 'born in the wrong body' just want to be accepted for what they are without being forced into a cheerleader role for a team. The book - which I have heard about, having listened to several interviews with the author as well as having read Douglas Murray's "The Madness of Crowds" - calls for caution in performing irreversible operations on children, something which I whole-heartedly support. As far as I know - from having listened to the author as well as several others lecturing on the subject - the large majority of children who present as 'trans' end up as gay or lesbian, at ease in their own bodies. To me this makes it clear that a call for caution needs to be heard, given the irreversibility of sex change operations and the negative effects of puberty blockers.

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