The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality

by Amanda Montell

Paradoxically, the more collective progress we made, the more individual malaise we felt.

But when it comes to people on pedestals, sometimes the fullness of their humanity feels like it just might kill us.

So here’s me saying it, maybe to the void, maybe to you: Whether you’re under the spell of a lover or a leader, it’s never too late to cut your losses. At any time, you can unload the heavy pack from your shoulders, leave it on the mountain, and turn back, because the view you were promised isn’t actually up there, and it’s not worth the climb anymore. It’s okay to forgive yourself (after all, everyone has their baggage) and to build a life that’s so full, and so yours, that you never really sunk any costs at all. FOUR THE SHIT-TALKING HYPOTHESIS A note on zero-sum bias “Beauty is terror.