The Shame Machine: Who Profits in the New Age of Humiliation
- Downloads：9955
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2022-03-23 20:21:40
- Update Date：2025-09-14
- Status：finish
- Author：Cathy O'Neil
- ISBN：B09972PL28
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
Reviews
Carmen
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https://harpers。org/archive/2021/10/p。。。Good article。 https://harpers。org/archive/2021/10/p。。。Good article。 。。。more
V
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Thanks to the author and publisher for the advance copy I received in a gr giveaway！We all experience shame （except psychopaths） and on an evolutionary scale， shaming wrongdoers is an adaptive behavior。 However in modern times， claims O'Neil， the scale of things has become so large and information is disseminated so quickly that our shaming behaviors have become， in many instances， destructive。 Again， O'Neil has invented a metaphor that she repeats ad nauseam around which her book revolves: a sh Thanks to the author and publisher for the advance copy I received in a gr giveaway！We all experience shame （except psychopaths） and on an evolutionary scale， shaming wrongdoers is an adaptive behavior。 However in modern times， claims O'Neil， the scale of things has become so large and information is disseminated so quickly that our shaming behaviors have become， in many instances， destructive。 Again， O'Neil has invented a metaphor that she repeats ad nauseam around which her book revolves: a shame machine is a collection of physical， social， legal。。。 things that work together to make people feel shame about xyz aspect of their life （e。g。 poverty， obesity） and often keep people in the situation that causes them shame， thereby exacerbating said shame。 It's a positive feedback loop。 Okay， when I spell it out like that， a shorthand term is absolutely called for but I don't love the cutesiness of the one she chose。 Better than the lamely-punned "weapons of math destruction，" I suppose。 Aside from the metaphor， the book does a good job describing the ways in which shaming in modern （largely American） society is deployed to good and not-so-good effect。。。 and who is profiting from the， uh， shame-industrial-complex。 The obligatory "how we stop doing the bad thing" section is a little light。 Then again， I always read those and think。。。 well， I think cynical thoughts。 。。。more
Maria McGrath
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O'Neil's breakdown of shame is riveting and wide-ranging。 She mentions Brene Brown and Jon Ronson's works， but mainly she is breaking down how certain people can profit from negative shame and how to break free of them （an ongoing process）。 On the topic of using shame to convince people to do the right thing， she treads a similar path to Amanda Ripley's high conflict， with a similar conclusion: People are only going to be convinced by people they already see as members of their in-group。For anyo O'Neil's breakdown of shame is riveting and wide-ranging。 She mentions Brene Brown and Jon Ronson's works， but mainly she is breaking down how certain people can profit from negative shame and how to break free of them （an ongoing process）。 On the topic of using shame to convince people to do the right thing， she treads a similar path to Amanda Ripley's high conflict， with a similar conclusion: People are only going to be convinced by people they already see as members of their in-group。For anyone who likes social science and psychology， this offers fresh insights and fleshes out the picture of how we interact with each other in this modern world。 。。。more
Chris Boutté
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I had really high hopes for this book， but in my opinion， it really fell short。 I’ll start off with what was good about this book， and one thing is for sure， Cathay is such a great writer。 I read this book straight through， and it’s pretty amazing that a woman who is a mathmetician has such awesome writing skills。 The other part that really stands out about this book is that you can tell that this is a topic that O’Neil is really passionate about。 She shares a bit of her personal experience with I had really high hopes for this book， but in my opinion， it really fell short。 I’ll start off with what was good about this book， and one thing is for sure， Cathay is such a great writer。 I read this book straight through， and it’s pretty amazing that a woman who is a mathmetician has such awesome writing skills。 The other part that really stands out about this book is that you can tell that this is a topic that O’Neil is really passionate about。 She shares a bit of her personal experience with shame in different parts of the book， and as someone who has struggled with my weight， I could really relate to her stories and how she feels。 But other than that， this book didn’t meet my expectations。 It’s possible that Cathy set the bar extremely high for me with her first book Weapons of Math Destruction， but this book just felt like there were so many missed opportunities to dive into shame。I’m really interested in the topic of shame and how online shaming has changed how we shame one another， so I read a lot of books on the topic。 Whenever I pick up a book， I ask two questions: “Whos is this for？” and “What are you bringing to the table that’s new？”。 There are millions of books out there， and so many on similar topics， so you have to bring something new to the conversation。 I was excited about the premise of the book as it was going to discuss how social media platforms and companies profit off of shaming。 The book is extremely short， and it could have easily been double the length if it had as much research and data as the previous book。 There was minimal data and research in this book。 Most of it was just telling every mainstream story you can think of when it comes to shaming。 Central Park Karen， the Convington High School student in the MAGA hat， and many others that most of us are familiar with。 She offers some great critiques of the diet industry and how they profit from shame， but it’s all been said before。 Based on the previous book， I figured there’d be deep dives into algorithms promoting shame and some statistics， but they were few and far between。 O’Neil also could have gone deeper into the psychology and philosophy around shaming and morality。 What really let me down was based on her experience， there were some missed opportunities to show compassion for people she disagreed with， but it didn’t happen。 Certain stories showed personal biases， and some lacked crucial parts of the story that we learned after the mainstream hype around them （for reference， listen to the Bari Weiss podcast episode about Central Park Karen）。I feel bad writing this review， but it’s only because I know what O’Neil is capable of writing。 So， do I recommend this book？ If you’re unfamiliar with some of these stories， you may enjoy it。 I guess I’m grateful that since Cathy has such a massive audience， maybe it will shift perspectives for people who participate shaming others or lack compassion。 But as mentioned， there are parts where the author could have shown more compassion but didn’t， so hopefully people use the book as a jumping off point to read some more books on shame， moral philosophy， and similar topics。 。。。more
Lynn
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From a historical standpoint， according to O'Neil， shame has been a useful tool in enforcing the cultural norms， rules， and taboos of one's tribe to ensure the survival of its members。 It has， however， taken on a much different and darker function in the 21st century。 "[I]n this book，" writes O'Neil in her introduction， "I focus on how shame is manufactured and mined。 I analyze shame as a global force and show how it is wielded to harvest something of value from us， whether money， work， sex， vot From a historical standpoint， according to O'Neil， shame has been a useful tool in enforcing the cultural norms， rules， and taboos of one's tribe to ensure the survival of its members。 It has， however， taken on a much different and darker function in the 21st century。 "[I]n this book，" writes O'Neil in her introduction， "I focus on how shame is manufactured and mined。 I analyze shame as a global force and show how it is wielded to harvest something of value from us， whether money， work， sex， votes， or even retweets。 Giant sectors of the economy are organized and optimized to make us feel horrible。" Shame has been commodified by big business in order to maximize profits， and we are all both consumers and victims。O'Neil draws on a variety of resources - case studies， scientific research， interviews， biographical sketches， and personal anecdotes among others - to reveal how this enormous shift has taken place and how it affects us all。 She pulls her examples straight from the headlines， touching on topics as diverse as social media， mask mandates， drug addiction， incels， the #MeToo movement， Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter， and the Kardashians to illustrate how the fears and prejudices of otherwise intelligent， compassionate people have been weaponized for financial gain。 She also details her own run-in with the shame machine and the pain and humiliation that it caused her。 Her description of her struggles with her weight and those who judged her for it are searingly honest and relatable。O'Neil kept me engaged with her smooth， elegant writing， which is likewise personable and down-to-earth without being chatty， and her hot-off-the-press stories kept me flying through the pages。 The Shame Machine was a fascinating， quick， and persuasive read， and I highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in psychology， culture， or current events。In the end， O'Neil's message is clear: "Be nice。 Don't spread poison。 Give people the benefit of the doubt。" Additionally， when people work together for the greater good， shame can be turned back on government officials and business leaders to motivate them to do the right thing。 Healthy shame， she claims， "involves agitating in every domain， individual as well as institutional， from the dinner table to the welfare office to the corporate boardroom， for all people to be treated with trust and dignity。"The ultimate gift of this book is that I am much more aware of my own participation in the shame machine， especially on social media。 In the future I will opt out of sneering at photos of Wal-Mart shoppers or sharing sarcastic memes。 Hey， it's a start。Thank you， Random House Book Club and Goodreads， for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book for free。 。。。more
Cait B
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Very interesting take on how shame is used and abused。
michelle
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some really timely stuff here but i finished feeling like "ok， now what？" still， think it's good to be aware of how we're operating in this system of shaming （esp prescient with cancel culture， which always makes me sound like a crotchety old white man when i complain about it） and how we can be better。。。 but how do we be better？ where does it begin？ some really timely stuff here but i finished feeling like "ok， now what？" still， think it's good to be aware of how we're operating in this system of shaming （esp prescient with cancel culture， which always makes me sound like a crotchety old white man when i complain about it） and how we can be better。。。 but how do we be better？ where does it begin？ 。。。more
Glen
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