Arnold Schelsky warns us in The Hype Cycle against exaggerated fears and hopes, so one must be careful to avoid exaggerations in praising the book. I believe, though, that it is indeed an important book which challenges conventional views on many subjects. I found the discussions of global warming, quantum computing, and scientism especially valuable. The author has an acute philosophical mind and an unusually wide knowledge of many different fields, both scientific and cultural. David Gordon, Senior Fellow, The Ludwig von Mises Institute
Hypes have a huge impact on our lives. They can be artificially triggered to manipulate and fanaticize people and they can lead to irrational and catastrophic decisions. If you want to understand how Hypes work, who triggers them, who benefits from them, and why were not defenseless against them, you should read this excellent analysis by Arnold Schelsky, a book that may become a standard work. Hans Georg Maassen, former head of the German counterpart of the FBI, the BfV, removed from office by Angela Merkel in 2018 after contradicting her on uncontrolled immigration
An exciting, entertaining book, filled with bold insights which are often unexpected, thought-provoking, and yes, sometimes infuriating. Ray Scott Percival, libertarian podcaster and author of The Myth of the Closed Mind: Explaining Why and How People Are Rational (2011)
Arnold Schelsky distinguishes many different types of hype in his ambitious, novel, and very welcome attempt to survey, describe, and evaluate contemporary follies all of which involve the vice of chronic exaggeration or worse. The variety of contemporary Hype cannot be understood or evaluated without taking into account many different bodies of knowledge and disciplinesphysics, mathematics, economics, biology, medicine, and philosophy, in particular social and political philosophya daunting task. But Schelsky, who is something of a polymath, is not daunted. Kevin Mulligan, Professor Emeritus, University of Geneva, Switzerland
