![]() ![]() At this point the value of tulip bulbs began to significantly increase. From here, the tulip bulb developed into more of a status symbol for the middle and upper classes in society. In the Netherlands, the simple tulip was seen at the time as a novelty item for the very rich. ![]() Here are two of my favourites from the book. ![]() There are lessons to be learned from them in the present day. His book highlights several stories from history of various manias that took place. The reactions are very similar and predictable and this “madness” leads to a downward spiral with undesirable effects. Mackay’s central theme in the book is that the tendency of humans to develop a herd mentality leads to individuals in the herd to act and react to various stimuli. People have been doing crazy things for centuries. There have been many fads in recent years but they are by no means a recent phenomenon. We were warned against blindly following the masses by Charles Mackay a long time ago. Peter Thiel once said “The most contrarian thing of all is not to oppose the crowd but to think for yourself”. It explores how easily we can be misled and how illogically we can think when popular opinion influences us. Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds by Charles Mackay is a study on crowd psychology and is extremely relevant to the present day, despite being written back in 1841. ![]()
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