Recipe for a 21st-Century Children's Crusade

Abstract

Guidance for the modern perplexed. In this selection of critical and provocative essays, the author examines many of our popular beliefs about culture, science, psychology and psychotherapy. It serves as an antidote to the mixture of misinformation, intellectual pabulum, and misguided “common sense” that so often masquerades for wisdom in these turbulent times.

This highly accessible book is a compelling read for all who are fascinated by the intersection of culture. science, and rational thought – from laymen and students to scientists and intellectuals. In these essays, we learn about a plethora of topics. Is it really useful for children to be spending time in extracurricular activities? Are anxiety and depression on the rise? Why are suicide rates skyrocketing? What kind of support should we give to people who have been traumatized, or would they be better off without any? Was Darwin wrong after all?

In contrast to the tedium of so many critical analyses of society, this author, in the course of sharing his thoughts pilots us in a captivating odyssey full of variety and with a touch of idiosyncrasy. In these pages, you will travel back in time to the Children's Crusades, attend scholars' funerals, witness knife fights for power in prisons, survey ships of fools, inspect therapeutic pit-stops and enjoy many other ports of call, with many citations and opportunities to explore any of these vital topics further.

Read, "The Werther effect: a recipe for a 21st-century Children’s Crusade" at The Skeptic by Tomasz Witkowski, 24th September 2025
and
"Repairing the child in a therapeutic pit stop," a chapter from Recipe for a 21st-Century Children's Crusade: Essays on Culture, Science, and Psychology, at The British Psycologocal Society by Tomasz Witkowski, 17 September 2025

REVIEWS and WORDS OF PRAISE

With his characteristic blend of fascinating stories, dry wit, and penetrating insights, Witkowski skewers a remarkable range of currently influential beliefs, fantasies, and post-truths. Dogmatists may not like the book, but anyone with a lively curiosity and open mind will find him or herself smiling with fascination at these essays. Modern civilization has benefited from the science and thought of many bygone centuries — yet somehow we find ourselves lost amid a wide assortment of baffling and dubious assertions. This book is a welcome challenge to much prevailing nonsense.
--Prof. Roy F. Baumeister, University of Queensland, Australia, author of The Science of Free Will

I strongly recommend this impressive collection of essays focusing on the critical analysis of a wide range of contemporary issues, from masculinity and mindfulness to psychotherapy and deceptive social science research. It is an excellent antidote to the mixture of misinformation, intellectual pabulum, and misplaced “common sense” that so often masquerades for wisdom in these turbulent times.
--Prof. James Alcock, York University, Canada, author of Parapsychology – Science Or Magic?

Recipe for a 21st-Century Children’s Crusade is a delightful collection of essays on some of society's most challenging topics — the value of a life, the future of work, and progress in science. Witkowski describes the value of provocation to promote the consideration of all possibilities, and this book certainly meets that criterion.
--Prof. Brian Nosek, University of Virginia, co-founder and director of the Center for Open Science

Psychologist Tomasz Witkowski offers a collection of provocative and lively essays on a range of topics. Samples: Is it really useful for children to spend time in extracurricular activities? Are anxiety and depression on the rise? Are suicide rates skyrocketing? What kind of support should we give to people who have been traumatized, or would they be better off without it? The author, a longtime friend of scientific skepticism, continues his valuable tradition of busting myths. He forces readers to realize that what they think is true may not be true, and that it might be time to reconsider many of their cherished beliefs.
--Prof. Elizabeth Loftus, University of California, Irvine, Past President, Association for Psychological Science

Tomasz Witkowski has once again addressed the elephant in the room of psychology. He brings a self-confrontational skepticism to the table. The “shrinks” around the table don´t want it, but they need it. Witkowski not only reflects on complicated scientific aspects of psychology: he also elevates the psychological challenges to an ethical, political and philosophical level, reminding us all there is more to science than science.
—Teddy Winroth, Licensed Psychologist and Licensed Psychotherapist, Sweden

Recipe for a 21st-Century Children’s Crusade is a readable, eloquent and thought-provoking exploration of a broad range of contemporary societal challenges with which we seem forever to be struggling. Witkowski sheds much light on these issues, offering insights that are as enlightening as they are unsettling. This important and highly accessible book is a compelling read for all who are concerned about the intersection of culture. science, and rational thought.
--Michael Heap, Clinical Forensic Psychologist in Sheffield, UK

These essays make you think about all sorts of problems – from epigenetics to allocating limited resources to saving individuals rather than numerous nameless people. The essays are easy to read but they are scientific literature – with references to the used sources given in all chapters. I recommend this book highly.
--Prof. Ewa Bartnik, Polish Academy of Science

Recipe for a 21st-Century Children’s Crusade is a readable set of thought-provoking essays on relevant contemporary controversies in psychology, psychiatry, biology and philosophy
--Prof. Trevor Robbins, University of Cambridge, coauthor of The Neurobiology of Addiction

Witkowski has been tirelessly tracking the apparent truths that contemporary culture feeds us for years. In his latest book, he discovers the meanders of our thinking, sneaks into the temple of science to investigate what is hidden behind its altars, checks what has been masked by the colorful decorations of pop psychology, and pokes his nose behind the façade of therapeutic culture, exposing its distortions and simplifications. I highly recommend reading the book to anyone who does not want to skitter along the surface of popular beliefs!
--Konrad Szolajski, film director, screenwriter

Although the world of academic diplomacy values "balanced judgments" and "problem complexity", Tomasz Witkowski puts forward an uncomfortable thesis - science needs unambiguity. Without it, we become pawns in a scientific game of appearances. The author removes the halo of infallibility from the heads of celebrity authorities and makes us aware of how often we accept nonsense, celebrate pseudoscience and preserve errors. This is a book for those who are not afraid of difficult questions and are not satisfied with comfortable answers.
--Jakub Jamrozek, Polish Radio journalist

A must-read for anyone who likes to be amazed, surprised, unsettled. For those who always think contrary to prevailing theories. It always pays off, although it is never easy.
--Krystyna Romanowska, journalist

About the Author

Tomasz Witkowski, Ph. D., professor of psychology at University College of Professional Education in Wroclaw, Poland. He is an author of several dozen since papers, several hundred popular science articles, several screenplays, stories and seventeen books. He specializes in debunking pseudoscience in psychology, psychotherapy and everyday life. Witkowski’s books include Fades, Fakes, and Frauds, Shaping psychology, Psychology Led Astray, Psychology Gone Wrong. The Polish Rationalist Association awarded him the title of The Rationalist of the Year 2010.