Collective Illusions: Conformity, Complicity, and the Science of Why We Make Bad Decisions
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- Create Date：2022-02-12 03:19:35
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Todd Rose
- ISBN：0306925680
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Summary
Drawing on cutting-edge neuroscience， behavioral economic， and social psychology research， acclaimed author， former Harvard professor， and think tank founder Todd Rose reveals how so much of our thinking about each other is informed by false assumptions that drive bad decisions that make us dangerously mistrustful as a society and hopelessly unhappy as individuals。
The desire to fit in is one of the most powerful， least understood forces in a society。
Todd Rose believes that as human beings we continually act against our own best interests out of our brains’ misunderstanding of what we think others believe。 A complicated set of illusions driven by conformity bias distorts how we see the world around us。 From toilet paper shortages to kidneys that get thrown away rather than used for desperately needed organ transplants， from racial segregation to the perceived “electability” of women for political office， from bottled water to “cancel culture，” we routinely copy others， lie about what we believe， cling to tribes， and silence others。
We are so profoundly social that when we are incongruent with the group that we do lasting damage to our self-worth， diminish our well-being and never realize our full potential。 It’s why we all too often chase the familiar trappings of money， fame， and success that leave us feeling empty even when we do achieve them。 It’s why we’ll blindly espouse a viewpoint we don’t necessarily believe in so that we blend in with the group。 We trap ourselves in prisons of our own making that prevent us from living the happy， fulfilled lives we envision。
The question is， Why do we keep believing the lies and hurting ourselves？
Todd Rose reveals the answer is deeply hard-wired in our DNA， with brains that are more socially dependent than we realize or dare to accept。 Most of us would rather be fully in sync with the social norms of our respective groups than true to who we are。
Using originally researched data， Collective Illusions shows us where we get things wrong and just as important， how we can be authentic in forming our opinions while valuing truth。 Rose offers a counterintuitive， empowering， and hopeful explanation for how we can bridge the inference gap， make decisions with a newfound clarity， and achieve fulfillment。 Only then can we transform ourselves， and ultimately， society。
The desire to fit in is one of the most powerful， least understood forces in a society。
Todd Rose believes that as human beings we continually act against our own best interests out of our brains’ misunderstanding of what we think others believe。 A complicated set of illusions driven by conformity bias distorts how we see the world around us。 From toilet paper shortages to kidneys that get thrown away rather than used for desperately needed organ transplants， from racial segregation to the perceived “electability” of women for political office， from bottled water to “cancel culture，” we routinely copy others， lie about what we believe， cling to tribes， and silence others。
We are so profoundly social that when we are incongruent with the group that we do lasting damage to our self-worth， diminish our well-being and never realize our full potential。 It’s why we all too often chase the familiar trappings of money， fame， and success that leave us feeling empty even when we do achieve them。 It’s why we’ll blindly espouse a viewpoint we don’t necessarily believe in so that we blend in with the group。 We trap ourselves in prisons of our own making that prevent us from living the happy， fulfilled lives we envision。
The question is， Why do we keep believing the lies and hurting ourselves？
Todd Rose reveals the answer is deeply hard-wired in our DNA， with brains that are more socially dependent than we realize or dare to accept。 Most of us would rather be fully in sync with the social norms of our respective groups than true to who we are。
Using originally researched data， Collective Illusions shows us where we get things wrong and just as important， how we can be authentic in forming our opinions while valuing truth。 Rose offers a counterintuitive， empowering， and hopeful explanation for how we can bridge the inference gap， make decisions with a newfound clarity， and achieve fulfillment。 Only then can we transform ourselves， and ultimately， society。
Reviews
Chris Boutté
，
I’m an audiobook listener， and when I get review copies， they’re in PDF format， so I rarely need to step foot in a book store。 Recently， I had some time and decided to go into a Barnes and Noble where I came across this new book from Todd Rose， and I’m so glad I did。 This quickly became one of my favorite books about group psychology， and I can’t recommend it enough。 I read a ton of books about this topic， and Todd not only brought a fresh take and unique angle， but he covered a ton of studies t I’m an audiobook listener， and when I get review copies， they’re in PDF format， so I rarely need to step foot in a book store。 Recently， I had some time and decided to go into a Barnes and Noble where I came across this new book from Todd Rose， and I’m so glad I did。 This quickly became one of my favorite books about group psychology， and I can’t recommend it enough。 I read a ton of books about this topic， and Todd not only brought a fresh take and unique angle， but he covered a ton of studies that I was unaware of。 While the book starts out making you feel nihilistic about human nature and wondering what we can do， Rose’s last few chapters explain how we can break free from these collective illusions to make the world a bit better when we work together。 I could also really relate to some of the personal stories he discusses later in the book about being in poverty and how we treat low-income and poor citizens。 This is a phenomenal book， and you need to go get a copy ASAP。 。。。more
Melissa
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This book really challenged my thinking about the problem of group think， and how our need to conform can lead us to do things as a group that almost nobody really wants。 It makes me feel hopeful about the way out of the polarization that is plaguing America today。 Definitely worth the read！
Danielle
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I didn't think it would be， but this is a self-help book。 That is not a compliment。 The author points out how the US has some very bad systemic problems （which we clearly do） and proposes that we fix them with individual actions （which will never work）。 Behind all the problems are clearly racism and capitalism， but Rose never calls them by their name。 He does call out communism in a very strange way and makes heroes out of a company--equating success with constant growth （that isn't sustainable I didn't think it would be， but this is a self-help book。 That is not a compliment。 The author points out how the US has some very bad systemic problems （which we clearly do） and proposes that we fix them with individual actions （which will never work）。 Behind all the problems are clearly racism and capitalism， but Rose never calls them by their name。 He does call out communism in a very strange way and makes heroes out of a company--equating success with constant growth （that isn't sustainable for companies and I would like to see a different form of success normalized）， so he seems to think capitalism is great and not the problem at all。 He ties it back to one single person， Frederick Taylor， not stopping to think that Taylorism wouldn't have caught on if the attitude wasn't already pervasive among the upper classes for centuries。 Additionally， he only addresses the problem on one side of the issue， as if everyone in the world never speaks up or speaks their mind and that is the only possible issue。 He never addresses the idea that lots of people must be enforcing the status quo for it to stick around for so long。 He insists that it is just a few （or even one person） enforcing the status quo。 We can tell only a few people enforce it because that is what happened once， which is ridiculous。 So maybe he should also tell people to be willing to listen to new ideas。 Furthermore， he never addresses the issue of what to do when some people have really bad ideas that are INHERENTLY bad （like the problems we are facing right now）。 The premise is basically， "everyone actually wants to go against the status quo and our problems will be fixed immediately if you cowards would just speak up"。 I got to tell you， that is just not my experience in life。 。。。more
Savannah
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More people need to read this book in 2022 — before we're a country with 330，000，000 people and only 2 opinions。 More people need to read this book in 2022 — before we're a country with 330，000，000 people and only 2 opinions。 。。。more
Kyle Erickson
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Thanks Netgalley and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review！ I really enjoyed this new book by Todd Rose。 I've listened to Rose on some podcasts and generally appreciated his insights so I was keen on trying one of his written works。 I think this is a great distillation of cognitive biases and tricks we play on ourselves that affect the way we think。 Rose does a great job of highlighting how collective illusions harm us individually and as a society， and the pitfalls that come wi Thanks Netgalley and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review！ I really enjoyed this new book by Todd Rose。 I've listened to Rose on some podcasts and generally appreciated his insights so I was keen on trying one of his written works。 I think this is a great distillation of cognitive biases and tricks we play on ourselves that affect the way we think。 Rose does a great job of highlighting how collective illusions harm us individually and as a society， and the pitfalls that come with not speaking up when you think differently than the crowd。 I would definitely recommend this both to people who have no prior knowledge of cognitive science as well as those that do （although those that are already well versed will not find much new here， maybe just packaged in a way that they may find meaningful。） 。。。more
Stephanie （abookandadog）
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I absolutely love reading about sociology and psychology。 I’m actually looking into research jobs in behavioral science so this is right up my alley。 This book is all about the assumptions we make that lead us down some weird and sometimes harmful paths。 I found it very interesting， especially the first few chapters and the last two。 The middle made my eyes gloss over a little bit but that could just be my brain getting overwhelmed by all the facts。 These facts and concepts seem very well resear I absolutely love reading about sociology and psychology。 I’m actually looking into research jobs in behavioral science so this is right up my alley。 This book is all about the assumptions we make that lead us down some weird and sometimes harmful paths。 I found it very interesting， especially the first few chapters and the last two。 The middle made my eyes gloss over a little bit but that could just be my brain getting overwhelmed by all the facts。 These facts and concepts seem very well researched with copious resources available。 I think this book is very important for our society to see all this information compiled in one place。 I’ll sum it up with some of my favorite concepts -People are generally trustworthy -You might agree with others more than you think you do-You should question something if the description is “we’ve always done it that way”-If you assume， you make an A。S。S。 out if U and METhanks to the publisher for sending me this free review copy in exchange for my honest review。 。。。more
Ashley Peterson
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Collective Illusions by Todd Rose explores the creation and maintenance of social lies that are fuelled by false assumptions， conformity， silence， and a lack of questioning。 Drawing on social psychology and neuroscience， this book shows just how skewed these norms can be from the reality of what most people actually think。Collective illusions occur when most members of a group privately reject what appears to be the widely accepted group norm。 This phenomenon has also been referred to as plurali Collective Illusions by Todd Rose explores the creation and maintenance of social lies that are fuelled by false assumptions， conformity， silence， and a lack of questioning。 Drawing on social psychology and neuroscience， this book shows just how skewed these norms can be from the reality of what most people actually think。Collective illusions occur when most members of a group privately reject what appears to be the widely accepted group norm。 This phenomenon has also been referred to as pluralistic ignorance， but the author explains that he prefers the term collective illusions because it’s not so much a matter of people not knowing what others think; rather， it’s an issue of being convinced that we know and being wrong。One example that the book addresses is people’s perceptions about what constitutes success。 In a study conducted by Populace， a think tank that the author co-founded， 97% of people personally considered success to be a matter of having meaning and purpose in their lives。 At the same time， 92% of survey respondents thought that most other people defined success in terms of career， money， and fame。 That is one massive illusion。The book addresses various factors that contribute to the development and maintenance of collective illusions， including our brains being hardwired for conformity， which had a survival advantage for our ancestors way back in the day。 The fear of ostracism is also explored as a major motivating factor， and the same part of our brains responds to both social rejection and physical pain。The author also addresses the role social media plays in collective illusions。 These platforms give people with fringe opinions the ability to quickly and easily create the perception of majority consensus in support of their positions， which can end up silencing the majority of people who actually have more moderate opinions。 Bots can play an important role in further amplifying these fringe opinions and manufacturing consensus that doesn’t actually exist。Politics was one of the areas the book addressed where collective illusions come into play。 For example， candidate selection is heavily influenced by perceived electability， an illusion that can lead to the selection of candidates other than the ones people actually think would do the best job。 Social media also feeds into the perception of growing political polarization， with the vocal fringe blowhards leading each side to perceive the other side as having more extreme views than the majority of people actually have。The book explores the negative consequences of staying silent when we see problems with what appears to be the majority opinion。 It can affect us as individuals， with our sense of self-worth and well-being taking a hit when we’re incongruent with our own beliefs and values。 The author explains how self-censoring also feeds into collective illusions， as our conformity suggests to others that we agree with the apparent group norms， which sends the message to them to remain silent。Throughout the book， the author emphasizes that although collective illusions can be powerful， they’re fragile because they’re based on lies， and they only exist because we all allow them to。 That means that individuals can do a lot to poke holes in them。 The final chapters addressed ways to do this， and the author encourages each of us to take responsibility for the part we play in sustaining these illusions。 Even something as simple as asking “why？” or “why not？” can be powerful in exposing these illusions for what they are。I found this book absolutely fascinating。 It exposes a lot of things that we assume to be true as being built on nothing。 I liked how the author encouraged readers to take personal responsibility for speaking up， not to the masses on the internet， but within our social groups。 I thought this approach was really empowering。I think this book would be really eye-opening for anyone who feels weighed down by social expectations， as it shows just how arbitrary many of those expectations are and how poorly they reflect what most people actually think。 It offers really great insights into how our minds work and how we function in social groups， and I highly recommend it。I received a reviewer copy from the publisher through Netgalley。 。。。more
Darcia Helle
，
The Great Toilet Paper Debacle of 2020 explained at last！Seriously though， Collective Illusions is a fascinating， enlightening read， drawing on neuroscience and social psychology to show us how false assumptions spread to create a mistrustful， unhappy society。Our brains are badly flawed when it comes to independent thinking。 Often， when we believe we’re forming our own opinions， we’re really just falling in line with our tribe。 This book breaks down the how and why of this behavior， and most imp The Great Toilet Paper Debacle of 2020 explained at last！Seriously though， Collective Illusions is a fascinating， enlightening read， drawing on neuroscience and social psychology to show us how false assumptions spread to create a mistrustful， unhappy society。Our brains are badly flawed when it comes to independent thinking。 Often， when we believe we’re forming our own opinions， we’re really just falling in line with our tribe。 This book breaks down the how and why of this behavior， and most importantly， teaches us how to shatter the damaging illusions we’ve come to accept， so we can see the truth。Todd Rose presents this complex topic with an easy to understand， entertaining writing style。 Anyone who makes decisions about anything in life should read this book。*I received an ARC from Hachette Books。* 。。。more
Living My Best Book Life
，
Collective Illusions is an eye-opening read about how others influence our decisions。 I love the science behind our decision-making。 Todd Rose showed many examples of how so many decisions and opinions we make are influenced by others and our fear of acceptance。 It is fascinating to read and understand that we base so many things on what others will think and how we even compromise our own beliefs because of it。 I give Collective Illusions 4 stars。 It's both exciting and eye-opening。 I think thi Collective Illusions is an eye-opening read about how others influence our decisions。 I love the science behind our decision-making。 Todd Rose showed many examples of how so many decisions and opinions we make are influenced by others and our fear of acceptance。 It is fascinating to read and understand that we base so many things on what others will think and how we even compromise our own beliefs because of it。 I give Collective Illusions 4 stars。 It's both exciting and eye-opening。 I think this will allow readers to get insight， learn from it， and try to make decisions that are right for us。 。。。more
Jeff
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Interesting Ideas Marred By Author's Dogma。 This is one of those books that presents a lot of interesting ideas， and indeed Part I in particular， where Rose is describing the problem and how it works， is quite remarkable。 Yet even through this section， there are elements of Rose's partisan blinders （though also some refreshingly positive signs）。 For one， Rose， while spending an entire book speaking to the ills of conformity， repeatedly appeals to conformity to claim that "the science is settled" Interesting Ideas Marred By Author's Dogma。 This is one of those books that presents a lot of interesting ideas， and indeed Part I in particular， where Rose is describing the problem and how it works， is quite remarkable。 Yet even through this section， there are elements of Rose's partisan blinders （though also some refreshingly positive signs）。 For one， Rose， while spending an entire book speaking to the ills of conformity， repeatedly appeals to conformity to claim that "the science is settled" on "climate" "science"。 Ummm。。。 Yet in the positive column， it is exceedingly rare for someone of Rose's political persuasion to cite the libertarian-based Cato Institute， and Rose actually cites this very organization within this text。 It is really in the final third of the book though where Rose's political blinders become most obvious， often citing things in support of his overall narrative seemingly not noticing that doing so fails Occam's Razor - there are far simpler， and therefore more likely correct， answers to some of these things （such as the rise in violent crime during the 2020 COVID lockdowns）。 Still， Rose actually does present quite a bit here that is absolutely worthy of consideration and discussion， even if he is off at times in certain areas。 Very much recommended。 。。。more
Emily Correia
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3。5/5 but rounded down。 This is a great recommendation for anyone who is a fan of Malcolm Gladwell books。 In showing the power of society’s pressures on our choices， the author mixes a number of anecdotal and historical examples。 For my taste， the book wasn’t extremely well organized and jumped around a bit too much。 It was however filled with a lot of fun pieces of trivia。
Miya
，
This is such an interesting book！ Especially right now， it is just intriguing to dig deeper into the psychology of belonging。。。to fit in or go with the masses。 At what cost do we alter our own values and intuition to be accepted？ I really really really enjoyed this book。 This is a topic I oddly think of often， so it was a joy to hear someone elses thoughts。 It is eye opening and empowering！！
Becky S
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