MASS PSYCHOSIS – How an Entire Population Becomes MENTALLY ILL (Fear)

I could write about the CIA and how it is responsible for much of the organized crime and drug trade in the world. I could write about how the CIA is behind Al-Qaeda, ISIS, and all radicalism across the globe. However, I have written about it before, and most people already know about it. The problem is not that people are unaware; it is that people do not accept it. This world of naivety, which makes people reject the truth, is something I have pondered for many years. Only by understanding the human mind can we be free. But how can you free people from chains they do not know exist? How do you free people if they do not know they are not free?

It is no accident that almost no one understands the human mind. Everyone is convinced they think for themselves and that advertisements and propaganda have no effect on them. After all, they believe they are free and independent individuals with free and independent minds. That is exactly what they want you to think.

“What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one… Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture… In 1984, people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure. In short, Orwell feared that what we fear will ruin us. Huxley feared that what we desire will ruin us.”

-Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business

They were both right at the same time.

What Orwell feared was the banning of books (relevant information). What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book (relevant information) because no one would want to read one (relevant information). We are drowning in a sea of irrelevance (irrelevant information/entertainment), and at the same time, the truth is concealed from us (censorship and propaganda). We are captive to a culture of triviality (irrelevant information/entertainment). We are controlled by the infliction of pleasure (entertainment, money, status, etc.), and at the same time, by the infliction of pain and punishment (e.g., Julian Assange, who sought to give us relevant information).

What I am most afraid of is that Arthur Schopenhauer was right:

“The majority of men… are not capable of thinking, but only of believing, and… are not accessible to reason, but only to authority.”

Consider this:

Ask yourself: what’s more terrifying? Fear, or the frightened.

Ask yourself: what’s more terrifying? COVID, or frightened by COVID.

Ask yourself: what’s more terrifying? Arabs, or frightened by Arabs.

Ask yourself: what’s more terrifying? Islam, or frightened by Islam.

Ask yourself: what’s more terrifying? Terrorism, or frightened by terrorism.

Ask yourself: what’s more terrifying? Communism, or frightened by Communism.

Ask yourself: what’s more terrifying? Putin, or frightened by Putin.

Many safety rules and restrictions derive their perceived legitimacy from the authority of “The Science”. In contrast to science, which relies on evidence, experimentation, the testing of ideas, and whose conclusions are open to doubt and reinterpretation, The Science relies on trust in authority and does not tolerate skepticism. If The Science alerts us to a threat, or if politicians invoke The Science to justify heavy-handed measures, then those who refuse to blindly follow The Science are treated as the modern equivalent of a heretic.

“Statements like ‘The Science says’ serve as the twenty-first-century equivalent of the exhortation ‘God said’. Unlike science, the term ‘The Science’ serves a moralistic and political project. It has more in common with a pre-modern revealed truth than with the spirit of experimentation that emerged with modernity. The constant refrain of ‘Scientists Tell Us’ serves as a prelude for a lecture on what threat to fear…those who do not heed the warnings of experts are frequently castigated as irresponsible if not evil.” 

-Frank Furedi, How Fear Works: Culture of Fear in the Twenty-First Century

The fear that is infecting society is socially conditioned into us from a young age, and it is fueled by a pessimistic conception of what it means to be human that is deeply entrenched in our society.

“…people are educated to be preoccupied with their safety, and to regard being fearful as a sensible and responsible orientation towards the world…Policy makers, opinion formers, and advertisers act on the basis that people are risk averse and feel powerless, and their messages normalize the perception that people are vulnerable.”

-Frank Furedi, How Fear Works: Culture of Fear in the Twenty-First Century

“Quite an experience, to live in fear, isn’t it? That’s what it is to be a slave.”

-Blade Runner

“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.”

–Marie Curie