アマンダ・モンテル（Amanda Montell）は、言語と権力、集団への帰属、現代社会の思考や信念を扱う作家、言語学者。米国ボルティモア出身で、ニューヨーク大学で言語学の学位を取得した。ロサンゼルスを拠点に執筆し、『ニューヨーク・タイムズ』『マリ・クレール』『コスモポリタン』などに寄稿した。書籍と並行してポッドキャスト「Sounds Like A Cult」「Magical Overthinkers」を手がけ、日常の文化や人間の考え方を取り上げた。2021年の『カルトのことば――なぜ人は魅了され、狂信してしまうのか』（原題 “Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism”）では、極端な宗教集団だけでなく、企業、フィットネス、ソーシャルメディアにも見られる言葉の働きを分析した。人が集団に引き寄せられ、とどまる仕組みを、曖昧な「洗脳」という説明だけに帰さず、仲間意識や内と外の区別を生む語彙や語り方から検討した。2024年の『世界は思い込みでできている――なぜわたしたちは認知バイアスにとらわれてしまうのか』（原題 “The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality”、邦訳2026年）では、文化批評に自身の経験を交え、情報過多の社会で因果関係のない出来事を結びつけてしまう「魔術的思考」を考察した。著名人への崇拝に働くハロー効果、恋愛におけるサンクコストの誤謬、陰謀論や確証バイアスなどを通して、不安と「考えすぎ」が結びつく思考のパターンを論じた。
Amanda Montell is a writer and linguist whose work examines language, power, belonging, and the beliefs and thought patterns of contemporary culture. Originally from Baltimore, she earned a degree in linguistics at New York University. Working from Los Angeles, she contributed to publications including The New York Times, Marie Claire, and Cosmopolitan. Alongside her books, she developed the podcasts Sounds Like A Cult and Magical Overthinkers, exploring everyday culture and the ways people think. In “Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism” (2021), published in Japanese as “Karuto no Kotoba,” she examined language in extreme religious groups as well as businesses, fitness communities, and social media. Rather than relying on vague explanations of brainwashing, the book investigated the vocabulary and forms of speech that foster belonging, establish boundaries between insiders and outsiders, and help explain why people join groups and remain in them. “The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality” (2024), translated into Japanese in 2026 as “Sekai wa Omoikomi de Dekite Iru,” combined cultural criticism with personal narrative. It explored magical thinking—the tendency to connect events that lack a causal relationship—in an environment saturated with information. Through subjects including celebrity worship and the halo effect, the sunk-cost fallacy in relationships, conspiracy theories, and confirmation bias, she examined patterns linking anxiety with excessive interpretation and overthinking.
