Review: Mental Immunity: Infectious Ideas, Mind-Parasites, and the Search for a Better Way to Think, by Andy Norman

Abstract

Andy Norman’s Mental Immunity promises a “cure” to the problem of infectiously bad ideas, or what he calls “mind parasites” that suppress our “mental immune system.” Some examples mentioned include flat earth theory, the notion that vaccines are more dangerous than COVID, and that white supremacy is an acceptable, albeit fringe, political stance. Despite the author’s claims that the book contains a novel method for rooting out and neutralizing bad ideas—a “mind vaccine”—it simply does not deliver.Instead, Norman, a philosophy professor at Carnegie Mellon, enthusiastically and frenetically offers nearly 400 pages of well-worn critical thinking techniques. Ask hard questions! Challenge bad ideas! Weigh out the facts! He weaves them into a deconstructed (read: disorganized) history of philosophy. The title, Mental Immunity, feels calculating, intended to catch the eye of those who, in the age of COVID, hope and wish for group “immunity” of any kind. Stylistically, the book seems minimally edited. It is overly conversational, anecdotal and, somehow, impenetrably dense all at the same time. Numerous pop culture references feel designed to build rapport with the reader but do not advance the argument.Norman’s argument is that better thinking will cure all of humankind’s ills, short circuiting messy and delusional ideas, no matter how cherished these bad ideas may be by some individuals and groups. Unfortunately, he spends no time addressing the most obvious challenge to his theory—unreasonable or delusional people are disinclined to engage as sincere participants in a reasoned exchange and are often downright hostile and belligerent when challenged. They tend to double down on their bad ideas and entrench themselves further. The critical thinking-based solution offered is great…for anyone with an open mind. By ignoring this major flaw, Norman’s whole undertaking feels tone-deaf, Pollyanna-ish, and like a bait-and-switch. Many excellent recent texts extol the virtues of reason and better thinking (see Stephen Pinker’s Enlightenment Now). Unfortunately, by promising too much, Mental Immunity ends up a disappointment.