"One of the most important writers of the past hundred years." — The Times (London)
In this perceptive collection of essays, Doris Lessing addresses directly the prime questions before us all: how to think for ourselves, how to understand what we know, how to pick a path in a world deluged with opinions and information, and how to look at our society and ourselves with fresh eyes.
The volume investigates the persistent barbarisms of modern life: why sane citizens succumb to collective hysteria, how political movements repeat ancient religious dogmas, and where obedient majorities surrender their judgment to the pack.
Drawing upon her youth in Southern Rhodesia and the reversals of the Cold War, Lessing traces the instincts that lead communities to execute scapegoats, revere dogmatic leaders, and embrace the intoxicating excitement of war.
- Social Psychology: Explores landmark conformity research, including Stanley Milgram’s controversial tests where sixty-two percent of ordinary subjects administered what they believed were lethal electric shocks simply to obey instructions.
- Human Nature: Examines humanity’s recurring descent into primitive ritual, from a prosperous colonial dairy farmer executing a ten-thousand-pound bull by firing squad to French courts putting a tree on trial for collaborating with General Pétain.
- Case Studies: Draws on real-world demonstrations of groupthink, such as simulated psychiatric and prison wards where healthy volunteers and staged guards instantly succumbed to their assigned roles.
- Literary Criticism: Recounts Lessing’s deliberate hoax with her Jane Somers novels, submitting new manuscripts under a pseudonym to reveal how herd mentality and brand names dominate publishing and review culture.
- Also by This Author: On Cats.
