Наиболее распространенные заблуждения и безумства толпы

Extraordinary Popular Delusions and The Madness of Crowds #1-3

by Charles Mackay, Чарльз Маккей

Цитата
Величие души не в том, чтобы из всего извлекать барыш, и сила духа не в кровопролитии, если только к нему нет достойного повода.
Чарльз Маккей

О чем книга
О том, как сквозь века, десятилетия и года люди не утратили и никогда не утратят страсти к мракобесию. А как иначе назвать средневековые пытки, древнегреческие предсказания и даже современные гадания по Луне и кофейной гуще? Маккей даже не пытается ответить на вопрос, почему люди это делают. Он просто красочно обрисовывает статистику безумств, через которое прошло человечество.
Книга Чарльза Маккея является подборкой наиболее выдающихся заблуждений и безумств человечества: от финансовых пирамид до религиозных психозов. Она стала классическим трудом о массовых маниях, поведении толпы и человеческой глупости.
"Заблуждения" и "безумства", изложенные в книге, относятся к хроническим "болезням" человечества. Финансовые пирамиды, коррумпированность власти, фальсификации и самообман мнимых врачевателей и пророков - все это было, есть и будет.

Основные темы
Интереснейшие исторические данные, подданные в жанре яркой мемуаристики.
Пророчества и алхимия как бич человечества. Что изменилось за последние 10 веков?
Страх перед апокалипсисом - массовая эпидемия. Насколько она поддалась излечению? Ответ очевиден. Примеры из прошлого.
Актуальность исторических проблем: меняется лишь обертка, человек все так же смертен и подвержен фобиям и безумствам.

Для кого эта книга
Рассчитана на широкий круг читателей.
Кто автор
Чарльз Маккей - шотландский поэт, журналист и автор песен. Получил образование в Королевской Каледонской школе в Лондоне и в дальнейшем в Брюсселе, но большую часть своей молодости провел во Франции. В 1834 году Чарльз публикует сборник "Песни и стихи", а в 1841 году он выпускает свой самый известный, ставший классическим труд о массовых маниях "Наиболее распространенные заблуждения и безумства толпы". Из-под его пера выходят книга "История Лондона" и исторический роман о первобытной Англии "Longbeard".

Ключевые понятия
Психология; социология; общество; толпа.

Особенности оформления книги
Твердый переплет.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Psychology, Finance, Economics, Business, Sociology

684 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1841

About the author

Charles Mackay was a Scottish poet, journalist, author, anthologist, novelist, and songwriter, remembered mainly for his book Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds.

Mackay became a journalist in London: in 1834 he was an occasional contributor to The Sun. From the spring of 1835 till 1844 he was assistant sub-editor of the Morning Chronicle. In the autumn of 1839 he spent a month's holiday in Scotland, witnessing the Eglintoun Tournament, which he described in the Chronicle, and making acquaintances in Edinburgh. In the autumn of 1844, he moved to Scotland, and became editor of the Glasgow Argus, resigning in 1847. He worked for the Illustrated London News in 1848, becoming editor in 1852.

Mackay published Songs and Poems (1834), a History of London, The Thames and its Tributaries or, Rambles Among the Rivers (1840), Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds (1841), and a romance entitled Longbeard. He is also remembered for his Gaelic Etymology of the Languages of Western Europe and the later Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.

His daughter was English novelist and mystic Marie Corelli.

Reviews

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the greatest books ever written.
First published in 1841, I think it has been in print continually ever since. Rare for a non fiction book.
I read it about once every 10 years to remind myself of mob psychology.
One of my favorite genres.
Also the author has a gift for storytelling.

About a dozen chapters, each one about a different set of events.
All examples of mob behavior.
How people can abandon critical analysis when "everyone else is doing it".
About the balance between Fear and Greed, and what happens when Greed turns to Fear.

The first several chapters are about financial bubbles, the tulip frenzy in Holland, the South seas bubble in Britian, and the Louisiana scam in France.

Then it moves on to other examples like the witch burning in Europe where over 100,000 people were killed by their neighbors because they were a "witch".
Other chapters inclued dueling, haunted houses and more.

If you buy at Amazon.com BEWARE:
Some of the editions they sell are not complete,
they only have the first 3 chapters.
Usually amazon tells how many pages are in a book,
they don't do that for any of the many editions of this particular book.
Almost every library has a copy.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the weeks before the election, as the financial crisis spun ever farther out of control and the pundits' shrieks grew ever more shrill, I browsed through "Popular Delusions.." and found solace. Charles Mackay's extraordinary survey of the various manifestations of mass hysteria throughout history cannot help but offer perspective. He reminds us that, no matter how batshit crazy a particular fad might seem, it's already been done by our ancestors. There is truly nothing new under the sun; the catalog of human daftness, though entertainingly long and varied, is nonetheless finite.

It's all here in Mackay's book, laid out with a kind of detached amusement that leaves no doubt as to where the author stands.

Market craziness got you down? It may cheer you up to read about the Mississippi scheme that wrought such havoc on the French treasury in the 18th century, while the South Sea Bubble engulfed the English, or to refresh your memory on Holland's infamous Tulipomanic excesses.

Three of the longer sections of the book are devoted to alchemy, the crusades, and witch-hunting. By the accumulation of examples and anecdotes across the geographical and historical spectrum (i.e. from different times and places), Mackay demonstrates that human folly remains a constant down the ages. He doesn't beat us over the head with this message - he simply assembles the data, with no overt analysis, and leaves us to draw the inevitable conclusion.

Most of your favorite targets are discussed in the book: eschatological prophets, fortune tellers, spiritualists, mediums, and the good Dr Mesmer and his imitators. The anecdotes are often hilarious, even more so because of Mackay's tone of dry amusement. But he knows when to administer the coup de grace, as for example, when he shows how easy it is to attribute post hoc meaning to the notoriously vague quatrains of Nostradamus. One can only wish that the folks at The History Channel would read these sections and take them to heart.

Shorter chapters are interspersed on topics as diverse as the wave of spouse-poisoning that swept through the courts of Europe in the 17th century, the influence of politics and religion on men's hair and beard styles, haunted houses, popular admiration of great thieves, duels, relics, and the sudden rise and fall of certain catchphrases or songs in big cities. (Yadda yadda yadda, anyone?)

This book is ideal for browsing. It's all pretty interesting stuff, presented clearly and wittily. You can learn quite a bit and enjoy yourself doing so - what's not to like?

This book deserves its status as a classic.

[Markus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extraordinary Popular Delusions and Madness of the Crowds
By Charles Mackay 1814-1889)
Charles Mackay was a Scottish poet, journalist, author, anthologist, novelist, and songwriter remembered mainly for his book 'Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds'.

The themes of the madness of the crowds are mostly situated in the eighteenth to the nineteenth century.

The Mississippi scheme:
Louis XIV died in 1715. The heir to the throne is an infant of only seven years of age,
The Duke of Orleans assumed the reins of government, as regent.

John Law was a Scotsman with financial experience from all over Europe over thirty years.
With the help of exceptional gifts of intelligence, charm, and persuasion and some ranking connection succeeded in approaching the new regent with credible proposals to
Save the country’s finances from its utmost state of disorder.

He proposed the creation of paper money of which he had seen very successful operations in Holland and Germany. He was listened to and allowed to register a new bank called ‘Law and Company.' He went to work as proposed and could soon prove that his bank was prosperous and his methods safe.

His next step in 1717 was to establish a new company ‘The Mississippi Company’ and obtained from the regent to have exclusive rights to trading with the province of Louisiana. The country was supposed to abound in gold and other precious metals. Letters Patent were issued and the company registered with two hundred thousand shares of five hundred lives each.
It was then that the frenzy of speculation began to seize the whole nation. The entire country handed in their gold and silver in exchange for paper notes promising 120% revenue p.a.
The system worked for a while due to ever more new share emissions, paying the income for the first patch.
The rest of the story is the adventurous unraveling over several years of some grand illusions of hope, ending in disappointment and national disaster.

The blame for the failure had been laid on John Law’s head, and he had to leave France in a hurry to avoid being lynched, but it is reported that the regent had been at the lever to overstep the limits of saving speculation.

People never learn. Modern stock exchanges are no different. Except that they are slightly better managed. We have seen in our lifetime several speculation bubbles burst and crowds of people ruined.

The South Sea Bubble;
While John Law’s Mississippi scheme in France was at its highest point of popularity, the Earl of Oxford, in the year 1711, introduced to England the “South Sea Company” with the pretended aim of restoring public credit. Similar to John Law’s scheme this company promised immense riches from the eastern coast of South America, the Gold and Silver mines of Peru and Mexico. Reports smartly spread reported that Spain was willing to concede four maritime ports for traffic. Philip V. of Spain however never had any intention of granting England any free trade with Spanish America. However the public confidence in the South Sea Company was not shaken, and investments continued at great speed and volumes.
Even though the company had hardly any income from trade, it continued flourishing by purely financial means.
In addition to this, the government promoted additional means of harvesting money from investors by passing acts of law like the South Sea Act, the Bank Act, and the General Fund Act.
The great principle of the project was to raise artificially the value of the stocks, by exciting and influencing a general infatuation, and by promising dividends out of funds that could never be adequate to the purpose.
It seemed at that time that the whole nation had turned stock-jobbers. Other schemes and innumerable joint-stock companies of the most extravagant kind started up everywhere.
The popular appellation called the fittingly ‘bubbles ‘and mere cheats.
I leave it to the future reader to follow the unraveling of this national disaster to the end.
Just like in France at almost the same time.

The Tulipmania:
The tulip seems to have been a flower originating from Constantinople.
A certain Conrad Gesner says that he first saw it in 1559 in a botanical garden in Augsburg.
In the course of ten to twenty years afterward, tulips were much sought after by the rich and famous of Holland and Germany.
The first tulips planted in England came from Vienna in 1600. Until the year 1634, the tulip increased annually in reputation. Soon the middle-class society, merchants, and shopkeepers began to vie with each other in the rarity of these flowers and the extraordinarily high prices that they paid for them. Any particular virtue of this flower is not known, it has neither the beauty nor the perfume of a rose and is not enduring either. However, in 1634 the rage among the Dutch to possess them was so high that the ordinary industry of the country was neglected. In 1635 many people were known to invest 100,000 florins for the purchase of 40 roots. A species called ‘Semper Augustus’ would be paid 5500 florins.
The operations of the trade became so extensive and complicated that it was found necessary to draw up a code of laws for the guidance of the dealers.
At last, however, the more prudent began to see that this folly could not go on forever.
They started a selling movement. The prices fell and never rose again. A universal panic seized upon the dealers and the bubble burst. Many were left ruined.

This is the only madness of the crowds that I can not blame. Any passionate collector of things, be they rare or standard or be they tulips, will understand that urge to gather what he regards as treasures. It seems to be part of human nature.

The Alchemists:

Dissatisfaction with his fate seems to be the characteristic of all men.
Three causes especially have excited the discontent, death, poverty, and ignorance of the future.
The first was the reason many savant men searched for some secret way of avoiding death, and if not, to at least live for several centuries instead of several years. It was the search for the elixir vitae or water of life.
The second was the search for the philosopher’s stone, which was to create riches by transforming any metal into gold.
The third was the search for a means of discovering the future.
They were the alchemists, sorcerers, geomancers, and dealers in charms, and amulets for all sorts of functions, like philters of love, fortune telling, healing all maladies, and working miracles of all kinds.

For more than a thousand years the art of alchemy captivated many noble spirits and was believed in by millions. It was practiced by the Chinese two thousand five hundred years BC.
Pretenders to the art of making gold and silver flourished in Ancient Rome and Constantinople up to the fourth century and later.

Some of the most renowned philosophers are Geber of the year 730, Alfarabi of the 10th century, Albertus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas of 1193, 1244, Alain de Lisle the universal Doctor, Atrophies, Arnold de Villeneuve, Pietro d’Apone, Raymond Lully, Roger Bacon 1214, Pope John XXII, 1244, Jean de Meung, 1279 (Roman de la Rose)Nicholas Flamel,1257
And many more in this chapter, of whom short biographies are developed with many exciting and amusing incidents, adventures, and anecdotes, too many to be listed here, but well worth reading.

Modern Prophecies:

End-of-the-world prophecies seized the Christian World, spread by fanatics, in the middle of the tenth century, preaching that the thousand-year cycle prophesized in the Apocalypse, was about to expire. The last judgment was expected to take place in Jerusalem. Large crowds of people from all over Europe sold all their belongings and went to the Holy Land where they lived on their proceeds waiting for the end of the world which was near.

In the year thousand, the situation grew worse. Every meteor, every thunder was the voice of God. Numbers expected the earth to open and give up the dead for the last judgment day. Fanatic preachers kept up the flame of terror. When nothing happened, it might have taken a year or more for the return home. Ruined and destitute, victims of their madness.

Credulity is always greatest in times of disaster and calamity. During the Years 1345 and 1350
During the great plague, it was considered that the end of the world was near.
London was hit by great consternation by the prophecy of the famous Whiston, that the world would be destroyed on the 13th of October 1736.

In the year 1761 London was alarmed by two shocks of earthquake. The first fell on the 8th of February, the second on the 8th of March, pointing at exactly one month between the two blows. Some madman predicted the end of London in one month's time, the 5 5th of April. The word spread quickly, and crowds of people left the city to wait for the end of the world in the open fields outside the city. When nothing happened, the prophet named Bell was apprehended and locked up in a madhouse.

Other prophecies have been numerous, which were asserted to have been delivered hundreds of years before, with always a most pernicious effect on the mind of the vulgar population.


Fortune telling:
In this chapter, the author proceeds to consider all the follies into which men have been led in the hope of piercing the thick darkness of futurity.
"God himself for his wise purpose has more than once undrawn the impenetrable veil which shrouds those awful secrets."
We found that the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were the golden ages of the imposters of foretelling the future.
The most celebrated astrologers in England, three centuries ago were alchemists, such as Agrippa, Paracelsus, Dr Dee, the Rosicrucians, Lilly, Lamb, Brooker, and Gadbury.

In France and Germany, astrologers met even more encouragements. Louis XI., the most superstitious of men, and Catherine de Medicis, the most superstitious of women kept great numbers of them at their court.
The most celebrated of them was Nostradamus who flourished around 1556. The prophecies of Nostradamus consist of more than a thousand stanzas written in obscure language, hardly intelligible and likely to fit any outcome.
He is to this day extremely popular in France and some parts of Belgium.
Another famous astrologer named Antiochus Tiberius lived in Romagna in the fifteenth century.
Other sciences resorted to prying into the future were:
Necromancy, Geomancy Augury, and Divination are the most enduring of them. It was practiced alike by Jews, the Egyptians, the Chaldeans, the Persians, The Greeks, and the Romans.
Divination is practiced to the present day in civilized Europe, chiefly from Cards, coffee cups, and lines of the hand. Among an endless list of other forms.
Omens are among the other means of self-annoyance upon which man has stumbled, and is in use since the darkest ages of the past.
Everyone I believe, has his omens in mind and reacts to them instinctively to this very day, myself included.

The Magnetisers;

The influence of the imagination in the cure of diseases is well known.
The mineral magnetizers claim the first notice, as worthy predecessors of today's quacks.
Paracelsus was the first to practice the art of healing by magnetism.
Messmer of Vienna was another famous practitioner of the art. He arrived in Paris in 1778 and became a fashionable physician throughout every grade of society. His name became a popular expression: to be mesmerized, still in use today.
Amusing anecdotes and adventures by the dozen.

The Crusades:
This is an exciting historical report on all the 8 or 9 crusades. I did not know there had been so many.
The first (1096) two crusades were indeed an example of the complete Madness of the Crowds. The poorest of the French and German population was harangued and motivated by the ruthless and fanatic Monk Peter the Hermit endorsed by Pope Urban II.

They gathered in vile, lawless, and ruthless crowds of several hundred thousand and started up to reach Jerusalem by foot. None of them knew where Jerusalem was nor how far away, they just went to the East, devouring flocks of locusts, stealing looting, and burning everything on the way until the neighboring countries got organized and killed them as they came. None ever reached the holy land.
Later crusades spanning over more than two centuries were of a more military nature organized by French English and German noblemen and their armies. Their intent to conquer and control Jerusalem fighting away the Muslims was obtained with the cost of the lives of thousands amid rivers of blood.

Europe had spent millions of her treasures and lost two million of her population, and a handful of quarrelsome knights retained possession of Palestine for about one hundred years.

I had only read the extraordinary true-life report of "The Conquest of Constantinople" by Villehardouin, about the third and fourth crusades, in the twelfth century. And also the remarkable book of “Vie de Saint Louis” by Joinville, one of his faithful knights, who led the crusades to Egypt and Jerusalem in 1248-1254.

I appreciate this complement of history to my knowledge.

The following chapters:

The Witch mania;
The slow poisoners;
Haunted houses;
Popular follies of great cities;
Popular admiration of great thieves;
Duels and Ordeals;
Relics.

I leave it to future readers to discover these chapters.
Enough is said about the style and excellent quality of this very elaborate, but easy to read, work of Charles Mackey.

[Lois Bujold · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's been too long since I've read this, but there's a reason it's been in print since 1841. Among other things, it has a classic account of the Dutch tulip mania, one of the first (but far from the last) market bubbles, and still instructive.

And I see it is now available through Project Gutenberg and for free for one's Kindle, so Amazon will be my next stop tonight.

Ta, L.

[Arminius · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is quite a riveting book. The name of the book describes exactly what you might expect it to contain. “Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds” provides a list of history’s ridiculous schemes, fantasies, prophesies witchcraft, faith healers and more. The author then debunks the delusions by citing the proof that was published at the time of the delusion.

I will list a few a few of the stories I liked best.

The first chapter teaches us about a Scottish character named John Law. Mr. Law canvassed European leaders to accept an economic plan to use paper currency as opposed to the metal coinage used at the time. It took him a while but he finally found sympathetic ears in France who was experiencing, at the time, a chaotic economy. Law instituted his scheme and it worked like a charm. The economy recovered (mostly because the King allowed Law to control it). Law kept the currency steady and that revived the French economy. Afterwards, he became well respected financier.

With this respect behind him he unlaunched a devious grand plan. He sold paper certificates that proved ownership of a section of the Mississippi River (which was under French control in the 17th Century). He previously told the public that the banks of the river contained diamonds, gold and other precious metals. These paper certificates became so popular that a buying frenzy occurred with people bidding higher and higher to own one. Unfortunately, the truth hit France and the certificates became worthless, causing many to go bankrupt. With this event Mr. Law floundered to just a footnote in history.

Another fascinating tale is the work of the 17th and 18th alchemists. The alchemists told of how they discovered the philosopher’s stone which gave them the ability to turn base metals into gold. Many alchemists used this trick to swindle wealthy ignorant citizens and leaders of much of Europe into funding their alchemist trade in hopes of receiving gold in return. One trick of the alchemist was revealed in this book. In order to gain the confidence of the alchemist's patrons the alchemist would have a wand. The Alchemist filled the wand with gold dust and capped it with wax ends. Then he placed the wand into a fire, the wax end melt and presto gold dust appeared. The amazed patrician would respond with a commitment to the alchemist. In all cases cited in the book eventually the alchemist would be exposed of his chicanery and often forced to spree.

A third one I found fascinating is the story of the Rosicrucian’s. Again in the 17th Century, a band with certain inhumanly characteristics created a sensation in Germany. They decried that God covered them in a thick cloud which protected them and they possessed the power to cure all maladies. They also possessed all wisdom and never needed to eat or drink. They had six rules of conduct.

1. They should cure all diseases they come across gratuitously.
2. They should dress in conformity to the country to which they were residing.
3. They should meet once a year
4. That every brother should chose a person worthy to succeed him.
5. The words “Rose-cross” should be the marks used to identify each other
6. Their secret should be kept for 26 years

They believed that they obtained these rules from a golden book found in the tomb of their creator named Rosencreutz.

Interesting enough the Rosicrucian group still exists. However, there is an annual $150 membership fee.

Popular haunted houses of the 17 and 18th centuries which caused fear among the masses are discussed and explained. The European witch scare is detailed as well. Would you believe the Crusades were ignited by one person who went by the name of Peter the Hermit? Peter the Hermit stirred the passions of European Christianity into a war, that some historians say, lasted 700 years.

Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds is an extraordinary tale of some of history’s most intriguing multitude arousals.

[Count Gravlax · Rating 2 out of 5]

I guess the low rating is my fault, this book is written in a very victorian styles and it feels more like a reference book than one that you actually opens to read it from beginning to end. Anyway, lost interest after the 78th description of some renaissance alchemist

[Mateo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mark Twain once famously characterized a "classic" as "a book that everyone praises and nobody reads," and while there are plenty of classics that absolutely hold up (The Iliad, Moby Dick,, hell, most anything by Twain himself), there are plenty of others that disappoint. I waited years to finally read Don Quixote (first book only), only to find that it was pretty boring. Figured the movie M, starring Peter Lorre, was can't-miss. It missed. Gave up on Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire and finished Augie March only through sheer stubbornness. (I've read the Divine Comedy three times, trying to figure out if I like it or not.)

Charles Mackay's Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds is one of those books the sits on the shelves of a lot of smart people, in the section "I'll Get Around to This Someday." Well, if it's on your shelf, take it down and start reading. This book is a classic, and a hell of a read.

It ranges all over the place, from alchemy and witch-burning to short-lived popular phrases--if you thought "hella" and "yo" were odd phrases to capture the modern lexicon, try phrases like "Quoz?" and "What a shocking bad hat," which gripped London in the 19th century. Of most interest to the modern reader are most likely the first three chapters, which describe three great historical financial Ponzi schemes: the Mississippi Scheme and the South-Sea Bubble of the 1720s, and the Tulipomania that gripped Holland in the 1630s. It's impossible to read these histories of financial shenanigans and not immediately think of Goldman-Sachs, Bernie Madoff, Enron, AIG, and the rest of the modern bubbles. Plus ça change, indeed.

Mackay, a lawyer by trade, was a sly, witty, clever writer with a gift for understatement. (Describing a particularly compelling prediction made by the famous 15th-century astrologer and prognosticator Pandolfo di Malatesta, Mackay ends the astounding tale by observing that "the only thing that detracts from the interest of this remarkable story is the fact that the prophesy was made after the event.") Taking on quacks from Nostradamus to Paracelsus, Mackay displays a shrewdly skeptical eye that stands in stark opposition to the general credulity, especially religious credulity of his age--and ours. Written some 20 years before Charles Darwin would pound yet another huge nail into the coffin of superstition, a coffin that seems to pop open with disturbing frequency, Popular Delusions is a funny, sharp, informative, readable, and valuable book. In short, a classic.

(Postscript: According to Wikipedia, economists in the 1980s and '90s challenged much of Mackay's account of the Tulip Mania. Given that these economists are described as "skeptical of speculative bubbles in general," and that these criticisms appeared long before the current economic crisis brought on by the housing and derivative busts, I'm going to go with Mackay on this one.)

[Stela · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a little disappointed after reading Charles Mackay’s book, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and The Madness of Crowds, for the title promised (to me, at least) so much! I was sure to find an extensive psychological study on the subject of crowds’ psychology, but what I found is only a (true, pretty impressive) collection of many follies crowds had been prey of over time, accompanied by some candid comments from a bewildered author, usually in the spirit of the following:

When the world begins to believe extraordinary things of an individual, there is no telling where its extravagance will stop. People, when once they have taken the start, vie with each other who shall believe most.

The three volumes try to organize popular delusions in three categories: national, peculiar and philosophical, but the criteria are rather lax. The first one begins with a detailed description of the Mississippi scheme in France copied in England by what was called “the South Sea bubble” and ends with a description of a peculiar kind of murderers in India, the thugs. In between, some amusing stories about the tulipomania that haunted the 17th-century Europe, the laws concerning long hair (culminating with a beard tax in Russia), the power of the prophecies and relics over both rich and poor, educated and ignorant, and other things that reveal the constant “love of the marvellous and… disbelief of the truth”.

Half of the second book is dedicated to the crusades, and the rest looks over the witch-hunt trials of the inquisition, presents some famous slow poisoners and enumerates some haunted houses.
The last one consists mainly of short biographies of famous alchemists like Avicenna, Paracelsius, Roger Bacon or Cornelius Agrippa, and fortune tellers and magnetisers like Anthony Mesmer, Cagliostro or Nostradamus.


In conclusion the book is a delightful collection of strange stories for the amateurs of the genre, but it is also a rich source of information for anyone who would want to write a scientific study (psychological, social, historical, take your pick) about the crowd behaviour.

[Patrick Peterson · Rating 3 out of 5]

2021-06-11 - I read this between 1981 and 1985 and am finally writing this review because I noticed a friend's review (Thanks Jim Henderson!) which was excellent. So I recommend his short review highly.

I liked the book, BUT, there were issues. So do not read it uncritically.

Will return to this later.

[Erik Graff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised and somewhat pleased to see that some business book publishers help keep this amusing work in print. The most memorable portions of it are about financial scams, panics and fads--all crazy.

[Marc Lucke · Rating 3 out of 5]

I understand completely why this text was reissued: the parallels to contemporary events (like the dot-com bubble, the housing bubble, the crash of 2007 and frenzied investment in Iraqi infrastructure and petroleum projects) are so striking as to almost seem contrived. It's like history has conspired to bear out MacKay's thesis to perfection: you could hardly hope for better validation outisde of a laboratory!

The illumination cast by his thesis itself is probably worthy of a five-star rating, but I found the first section on Paris to be excessively detailed and frankly tedious. While the book is a must-read for anyone who wants to see maxims about the value of historical knowledge played out, the actual reading of it might be a bit of a chore.

[Maya Kaloferova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marvellous walk through all the madnesses of mankind known so far! Except for the Covid-19, of course, which the author was lucky enough to have been spared. Oh, how he would have marveled at this total mess of delusional madness!

[Jeanette · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is extremely difficult to rate. Or even define.

3.5 stars for the first three sections which core on the specific bubbles that occurred in France, England, Holland during the centuries of early cross Atlantic ships.

I've read entire books before about the tulip mania which is the 3rd one in time analyzed/ detailed here.

The book itself which has immense history of individuals who lived their lives obsessed with the turning of base metals into gold or sought composition of the philosopher's stone? Those I have no idea how many 1000's of pages (possibly) they went on here in this download. I read for over a week off and on and only got to about 30% of those pages re the philosopher's stone. Which the great majority of humans believed existed. And also some seemed to be able to define.

I'm of the opinion that the 3 core first long chapters are the "book" as defined by the trailer.

Regardless, it's super interesting. How everyone "knows" things that are not. Or are mere value or core identities in practical applications that are nothing or very dissimilar than their "known" acceptance. I've seen myself numerous cases of this in my own lifetime. Some of them as far flung in acceptance too as in these 3 mass obsessions situations.

We live in a time where almost any complete fallacy can be marketed or PR'd to maximum acceptance, IMHO. Up is down and down is up. It's observable in social media. Also in almost any other type of media/ print/ mores etc. A "feeling" is produced that incites negation too of almost any human logic in the process. Just as in those 3 main entire societal situations here.

This book will give you a straight story about how three different times an entire society/economic system/ government / public went bonkers in accepting such realities of "worth".

[kelvybaby · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 stars

plus one star because it was written in 1841

[Anne (In Search of Wonder) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was not quite what I expected, but I was nonetheless pleasantly surprised. I was expecting more of a discussion or deep dive into the psychology behind groupthink or mob behavior, but instead found a humorous and insightful look at the various follies that have afflicted mankind (or that mankind has afflicted on itself) throughout history.

I disagreed on some aspects of his worldview, namely that I believe there is a spiritual world beyond our natural realm and the two sometimes mix. I think it requires discernment and caution before ascribing anything to spiritual forces, but I won't discount the fact that they exist. His analysis of various potentially other-worldly experiences is a strict adherence to a very scientific approach that nothing on earth happens without a natural cause. I think that is most often the case, to be sure, but not always.

I started drawing little LOL emojis next to the passages that literally made me laugh out loud. Let me tell you, I have laughing emojis all over this book! Most of the humor requires the entire context in order to be truly funny, but here are a couple quotes:

"The credulity of that age had a wide maw."

"Robert Kerr, a Scottish youth, was early taken notice of by James I, and loaded with honors, for no other reason that the world could ever discover than the beauty of his person."

Regarding a work by George Ripley, canon in Yorkshire in 1477, about the "twelve gates" leading to successful alchemy: "These gates he described to be calcination, solution, separation, conjunction, putrefaction, congelation, cibation, sublimation, fermentation, exaltation, multiplication and projection; to which he might have added botheration, the most important process of all."

I don't care who you are, that's funny right there.

Aside from his humor, he was very insightful into human nature. I offer these quotes for your consideration:

"Every age has its peculiar folly."

"When men wish to construct or support a theory, how they torture facts into their service!"

"If two or three persons can only be found to take the lead in any absurdity, however great, there is sure to be plenty of imitators. Like sheep in a field, if one clears the stile, the rest will follow."

"The bonds of reason, though iron-strung, are easily burst through; but those of folly, though lithe and frail as the rushes by a stream, defy the stoutest heart to snap them asunder."

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was originally published in 3 volumes with the first volume appearing in 1841. The version that I read was the Wordsworth edition which had 600 pages and 16 chapters.

Please note that all 3 volumes appear on Project Gutenberg for those people who don't mind reading from a screen. The version that I read contains most chapters that appeared in the 3 volumes. The chapters that are in the Gutenberg version but not my version are 'The O.P. Mania', 'The Thugs, or Phansigars' and 'The Love of the Marvelous and Disbelief of the True' which all sound intriguing enough for me to track down and read the online version.

I was attracted to the book by the bubbles sections. Though I was surprised to see that these actually take up only a small portion of the book (82 pages). Other chapters include a short critical history of the Crusades, an interesting chapter on the Witch Mania throughout Europe, Duels & Ordeals, Slow-Poisoners, Animal Magnetisers etc.

The only chapter that I found a bit dull was the 130 page chapter on Alchemists as it just consists of short biographies of different alchemists from about the 8th Century A.D. to the late 18th Century. So I left this chapter till last, which is easily done as they can be read in any order. I found the biographies of the more modern alchemists more interesting as they were more like fraudsters and con-men than true believers in alchemy.

Considering that the book is about 170 years old it is surprisingly easy to read, though the untranslated quotes in Latin & French may annoy some, especially as this could be remedied by the modern publisher. I suppose the other complaint would be that he covers a lot of ground thinly and that he just whets your appetite rather than satisfying your curiosity. However I tend to like that in a book and it has had the effect that I have already read (and recommend) Tulipomania by Mike Dash and I'm currently seeking out the modern 'Ponzi Schemes, Invaders from Mars & More Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds' by Joseph Bulgatz.

[Enkhtur · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book was first published in 1841, but all the recent bubbles (Japanese real estate, dot-com, us housing bubbles) shares similarity with the older events . Plus ça change; history repeats itself because human nature doesn't change. When physicist Isaac Newton lost some fortune in his investment in the South Sea Company, he said "I can calculate the motions of heavenly bodies, but not the madness of people" and warned others not mention the name "South Sea" ever again in his presence.

Most bubbles are created when a certain positive shock occurs (sudden events leading to a shortage of supply of certain assets, excess liquidity, deregulations, frauds that lead false positive confidence in certain assets etc). It is followed by mass frenzy (investment, buying of certain asset like tulips, real estate, stocks etc) and expansion of credits (to fund speculators to buy assets, and creditors take those assets as collateral even when the debtor can't even pay the interest on the rational that asset price would continue to increase). Optimistic market participants knowingly buy assets at much higher price that it is justified to be in hope to sell those assets at even higher price to greater fools. All this delusion ends when price reaches high enough so that no one can afford it (therefore, no greater fool to buy the asset at higher price can be found to speculators) or because of other economic shocks. Then naturally mass bankruptcies and economic recessions follow. "Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one."

Would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in psychology, crowd behaviour, financial markets and history. Would also recommend Kindleberger's book "Mania, Panics, Crashes: A History of Financial Crises" that examines financial crisis and bubbles starting from 17th century tulip mania to more recent 20th-century events.

[Al Maki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Today, July 29, 2014, Amazon has a market capitalization of $147,380,000,000 and a price/earnings ratio of 569. That is, people have one hundred forty seven billion dollars invested in Amazon and at the present rate will earn back their money in 569 years. This book is an excellent place to start if you want to understand how this could come about. There are excellent books on the financial aspecst or history of such phenomena, Galbraith or John Cassidy for example. But at bottom this is not a financial phenomenon, but one of mob psychology.

[S · Rating 2 out of 5]

The core ideas is great, but the presentation is very tedious. It is extremely repetitive in the examples it enumerates. You are better off reading a summary of the different categories that the author covers (e.g. financial bubbles, witch hunts, alchemy)

[Dipanshu Gupta · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first few chapters on financial bubbles were legendary. The other manias were a hit and miss for me. They were too detailed at times for me; the chapter on witch hunting was such a drag.

Nils Bohr once said that science is the gradual removal of prejudices. Looking back on the kind of shit our ancestors did, like dueling instead of court trials, is absolutely barbaric. However, there is a part of our monkey brain thinking we can never leave behind, which becomes the topic of all psychology books ever written and makes dealing with other irrational humans so much fun in real life 😆

[alper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fransa'da ortaya çıkan Mississippi balonu, sonrasında oraya öykünen İngiltere'de çıkan Güney Deniz balonu, Hollanda’da lale çılgınlığı… Balonların her daim olacağını ve hepsinin bir yerde patlamasının kaçınılmaz olduğunu ortaya koyuyor. Nft'nin, “projesi sağlam coin"lerin atalarını o günlere bakarak görülebiliriz.

Bu projelerden bazıları akla yakındı ve eğer halkın bu kadar coşku içinde olmadığı bir zamanda ele alınmış olsalardı, herkese fayda getirebilirlerdi. Ne yazık ki tek amaçları hisse fiyatlarını yükseltmekti. Proje sahipleri meydana gelen bir yükselişte hemen satarak kârlarını alıyor ve ertesi gün projeler yok olup gidiyordu. Maitland, kaleme aldığı Londra'nın Tarihi'nde bize, büyük destek gören projelerden birinin “talaştan borsa tahtası yapmak” üzere kurulan bir şirket olduğunu endişeyle anlatır. Bu elbette bir şakadır ama bundan ancak bir nebze daha akıl hı olup, kısa süren ve çökmeden önce birçok hayatı harap eden yüzlerce projenin varlığı hakkında bolca kanıt vardır. (103)

Sonunda ileri görüşlü insanlar bu modanın ebediyen süremeyeceğini anlamaya başladılar. Artık zenginler laleleri kendileri için değil, yüzde yüz kârla satmak için alıyordu. Anlaşılmıştı ki sonunda birileri korkunç bir şekilde kaybetmeye mahkumdu. Bu düşünce yayıldıkça lale fiyatları düşmeye başladı ve bir daha asla yükselmedi. Güven duygusu azaldı ve dünyanın her yanındaki işlemcilerde bir panik başladı. A, sözleşmenin imzalanmasından altı hafta sonra B'den, her biri 4 bin florinden on adet Semper Augustus almayı kabul etmişti. B, saptanan zaman geldiğinde ellerinde çiçekleriyle hazırdı ama fiyat 300-400 florine düşmüştü ve A, artık başta saptanan fiyatı ödemeyi ve laleleri almayı reddediyordu. Gün geçmiyordu ki Hollanda'nın bütün şehirlerinde anlaşmalar bozulmasın. Daha birkaç ay önce bu diyarda yoksulluk diye bir şeyin kalıp kalmadığını soranlar, artık onları satın alırken ödedikleri fiyatın dörtte birini önermelerine karşın ellerinde kimsenin istemediği birkaç sap laleyle kalmışlardı. (150-1)

Kitap iki kısımdan oluşuyor. İkinci kısım “Karışıklığın Karmaşası”nda bir filozof, hissedar ve tüccar borsa üzerine konuşuyorlar. Spekülasyon, yatırım, boğa, ayı vs.. O kısım beni pek sarmadı.

Finansal okuryazarlığın okullarda ders olması gerektiğini düşünüyorum. Bir müfredat hazırlayacak olsak en başa kitabımızın ilk bölümü “Olağanüstü Kitlesel Yanılgılar ve Kalabalıkların Çılgınlığı” nı tereddütsüz eklerim.

Not: Mississippi ile ilgili çekilmiş bir kısa film: https://youtu.be/diEVmQZ1QfM

[Henrik Haapala · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Let us not, in the pride of our superior knowledge, turn with contempt from the follies of our predecessors. The study of the errors into which great minds have fallen in the pursuit of truth can never be uninstructive. As the man looks back to the days of his childhood and his youth, and recalls to his mind the strange notions that swayed his actions at that time, that he may wonder at them; so should society, for its education, look back to the opinions which governed the ages fled. He is but a superficial thinker who would despise and refuse to hear of them merely because they are absurd. No man is so wise but that he may learn some wisdom from his past errors, either of thought or action; and no society has made such advances as to be capable of no improvement from the retrospect of its past folly and credulity. And not only is such a study instructive: he who reads for amusement only will find no chapter in the annals of the human mind more amusing than this. It opens out the whole realm of fiction – the wild, the fantastic, and the wonderful, and all the immense variety of things “that are not, and cannot be be; but have been imagined and believed.”

[Jackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book about the foolishness of people and how easily they fall for popular delusions. It was first published in 1841 about the ridiculous scams people believed in during that time. The scams of today are just as foolish especially with our recently popular conspiracy theories. Bernard Baruch wrote the forward for the 1932 edition. He says, “Anyone taken as an individual, is tolerably sensible and reasonable-as a member of a crowd, he at once becomes a blockhead”. So be careful what you get talked into believing by the con men of today.

[Jennifer Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading this book written over 150 years ago majes you realize how little people have changed over the course of history, right up to today. The chapter dealing with trendy phrases was particularily illustrative of this.

[Sue Burke · Rating 3 out of 5]

A historically important compendium of urban myths gilded with a thin layer of facts and moralizing musings. It can serve as a springboard to the study of actual history, economics, and psychology, or it can be an entertaining way to pass some time -- but don't believe everything you read here.

[Edward]

Bought a copy of this today.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

What happens today in the context of the masses happened hundreds of years ago and longer. History does truly repeat itself.

[Mohammad Ali Abedi · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one."

Written in 1841, "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds" by Charles Mackay, the book is a great fun to read. Let me just quote wikipedia, "The subjects of Mackay's debunking include economic bubbles, alchemy, crusades, witch-hunts, prophecies, fortune-telling, magnetisers (influence of imagination in curing disease), shape of hair and beard (influence of politics and religion on), murder through poisoning, haunted houses, popular follies of great cities, popular admiration of great thieves, duels, and relics". But basically, the book could also be summarized by this, people are stupid.

"There is scarcely an occurrence in nature which, happening at a certain time, is not looked upon by some persons as a prognosticator either of good or evil. The latter are in the greatest number, so much more ingenious are we in tormenting ourselves than in discovering reasons for enjoyment in the things that surround us."

And they are. Always have been and always will be. The book, while written more than 150 years ago, is not only about follies of people from his age, but also from centuries past. And you read it, and you think, this is still happening. People rushing and investing their life savings in economic bubbles and then losing everything exists in today's world too, and every bubble, the people think they are different, and every time they lose money, they think the situation was unique. What's worse than losing all your money in the bubble than knowing that not only did you lose your money but you also repeated the same mistakes done by people centuries back?

"In many of the bloody wars which defile the page of history, we find that soldiers, utterly reckless of the works of God, will destroy his masterpiece, man, with unsparing brutality, but linger with respect around the beautiful works of art. They will slaughter women and children, but spare a picture; will hew down the sick, the helpless, and the hoary-headed, but refrain from injuring a fine piece of sculpture."

I guess, that's the most tragic thing about us today. Not that we are stupid, but that our stupidity is basic, normal, expected, and routine. You read this book and you realize how comfortably our modern people fit in it, and you think that, there is nothing important about our time, nothing enlightened about it. In the future, deep thinkers will not consider us separate form ages past. Mankind has not made any real intellectual jump forward.

"How flattering to the pride of man to think that the stars in their courses watch over him, and typify, by their movements and aspects, the joys or the sorrows that await him! He, less in proportion to the universe than the all but invisible insects that feed in myriads on a summer's leaf, are to this great globe itself, fondly imagines that eternal worlds were chiefly created to prognosticate his fate. How we should pity the arrogance of the worm that crawls at our feet, if we knew that it also desired to know the secrets of futurity, and imagined that meteors shot athwart the sky to warn it that a tom-tit was hovering near to gobble it up; that storms and earthquakes, the revolutions of empires, or the fall of mighty monarchs, only happened to, predict its birth, its progress, and its decay! Not a whit less presuming has man shown himself; not a whit less arrogant are the sciences, so called, of astrology, augury, necromancy, geomancy, palmistry, and divination of every kind."

A final note. I enjoyed the part about popular slangs of the day. If you are ever looking to bring back 19th century slang, you can use "Quoz!" (can be used as a reply to anything), "Walker!", "There he goes with his eye out!", "Flare up!", "Has your mother sold her mangle?", and so on, but my favorite is, "What a shocking bad hat!" Once it is in vogue, you just yell that to a newcomer and everyone laughs.

[Frank Theising · Rating 3 out of 5]

First published in 1841, Charles Mackay’s Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds chronicles the (frequently irrational) herd mentality and superstition of mankind up to that date (mostly focused on Europe but he includes a handful of examples from the US and Asia). Sadly, the sheer number of Ponzi schemes, get rich quick schemes, speculative market bubbles, superstitions (maybe involving your favorite sports team), horoscopes, cults, crop circles, prosperity gospel preachers, religious charlatans, and ghost hunters that have occurred after this was published suggests that irrational behavior will remain an enduring part of human nature. While the book and its content are good, to the modern reader some of the sections just seem to go on long after the author made his point (specifically, it seemed like the section on alchemy was at least a quarter of the entire book. The history of the crusades and witch trials were similarly longwinded). Nevertheless, still worth a read as this book remains very influential and foundational to both crowd psychology and the study of speculative economic bubbles.

Rather than follow my normal routine of typing up notes, I’ll simply include a list of the delusions he debunks and provide links that provide a short summary:
- Dutch Tulip Mania.
- French economic Mississippi Bubble.
- British economic South Sea Bubble.
- Alchemy.
- Philosopher’s Stone.
- Rosicrucianism.
- Religious Prophecies (like predictions of the exact date of Christ’s second coming).
- Almanacs used to make wild predictions without any scientific basis.
- Astrology (Nostradamus).
- Necromancy.
- Divination.
- Omens.
- Magnetizers like Franz Mesmer (where we get mesmerize from).
- Religious Crusades.
- Relics.
- Witchcraft.
- Witch Trials.
- Poisoning.
- Haunted Houses.
- Trendy Slang.
- Admiration of great thieves like Jack Sheppard or Robin Hood
- Dueling

[Nathan Frankel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why read a book originally published in 1841 about the delusions and madness of times long gone? I think the author makes a strong case early in the work:

"Let us not, in the pride of our superior knowledge, turn with contempt from the follies of our predecessors. The study of errors into which great minds have fallen in the pursuit of truth can never be uninstructive. As the man looks back to the days of his childhood and youth, and recalls to his mind the strange notions and false opinions that swayed his actions at the time, that he may wonder at them; so should society, for its edification, look back to the opinions of the ages fled. He is but a superficial thinker who would despise and refuse to hear of them merely because they are absurd. No man is so wise but that he may learn some wisdom of his past errors, either of thought or action; and no society has made such advances as to be capable of no improvement from the retrospect of its past folly and credulity. And not only is such a study instructive: he who reads for amusement only will find no chapter in the annals of the human mind more amusing than this. It opens out the whole range of fiction - the wild, the fantastic, and the wonderful, and all the immense variety of things that are not and cannot be; but have been imagined and believed."

The book is broken up into 16 topics, ranging from short 10 page summaries to more thorough 60 page histories. Though the older English (or maybe the translation?) is a bit tricky to get into at times, well worth the effort. My favorite sections were 'The Crusades', 'The Witch Mania', 'Duels and Ordeals', and 'The Slow Poisoners'. 'The Tulipomania' and 'Relics' were short sections that I found very interesting.

I knew a bit about witch mania and the crusades, but the detail the author went into to describe the follies that caused the suffering and deaths of so many people is truly astounding. Worth the read for these two chapters alone. So much folly that I don't think any description I could give would even scratch the surface.

The section on duels was also enlightening, I had no idea how prevalent they were and how governments and royalty tried in vain for so long to put a stop to the practice. It was looked at as so cowardly to refuse a duel, that many people would rather risk death (and often die) then have society turn its back on you for refusing. We're talking thousands upon thousands a year for a long time. I also thought 'trial by combat' was something from the fictional world of Game of Thrones, but there was a time in which it was lawful (and often required) to prove guilt or innocence by a fight to the death. Ecclesiastics were allowed to produce champions to fight for them.

I skipped 2 sections, 'The Alchymists', which I was looking forward to but was so poorly written I didn't muddle through it. Also skipped the section on 'The South-Sea Bubble' as it seemed similar to the other investment fever 'The Mississippi Scheme'.