The Ideological Brain: The Radical Science of Flexible Thinking
Leor Zmigrod

This is not an easy book to read. It’s not because of the subject matter, which is fascinating, but because this is more of an academic discussion of ideology. It’s a book you would read because you are writing an academic paper on the subject.

Because this is such a complex subject, I queried ChatGPT—something I do with all my book reviews of scientific subjects to make sure I didn’t overlook some aspect—and this is what it said about Ideology:

“Ideology refers to a system of ideas, beliefs, or ideals that form the basis of a political, economic, or social theory. It’s about how people perceive the world and what principles they think should guide society.”

That essentially is what the book The Ideological Brain: The Radical Science of Flexible Thinking is about: how people end up clinging to whatever ideas, beliefs, or ideals—that is, Ideology—they hold.

Ideology was devised by Antoine Destutt de Tracy during the French Revolution. His idea was that “Idéologie [as he called it] would be a legitimate science that would use objective methods to ascertain how humans generate beliefs; [and] designed to be a scientific project oriented toward truth and against superstition.”

While there can be many different interpretations of Ideology, I read the book with the mindset of trying to understand why political ideologies can bring people to believe unpopular information or elect a president of the United States who may or may not believe in their best interests.

Author Zmigrod points out that “Religion is one of the strongest and most memorable forms of an ideological upbringing. This is because religion is highly performative, both as a doctrine and an identity.” Also, “ideologies offer the promise of “home,” a place where one is accepted and understood.” This aspect can apply to any social group (sports, popular culture, etc.)—the feeling of belonging and being understood is very powerful.”

While this doesn’t justify everything that the United States has experienced these last few years, it does explain some of the aspects of how those who followed Donald Trump felt and why they supported him.

This book would appeal to those who are interested in learning more about the history of ideology as well as those in academia who are interested in the application of sociological experiments. For me, this was a book that I found a bit hard to read in areas but was overall fascinated by the subject matter.

4/5 stars

[Thank you to NetGalley and the author for the advanced ebook copy in exchange for my honest and objective opinion, which I have given here.]

Finished Reading Book: 05 February 2025