In an interview titled ”mass formation,” Dr. Mattias Desmet, a professor of psychology, explained how a population can undergo a change resulting in mass psychosis. He can also observe how, in today’s COVID-19 society, we could exhibit all the symptoms of being in a mass psychogenic state and explain how this has arisen.
”Mass psychosis or mass hysteria, also known as collective compulsive behavior, is a phenomenon that transmits collective illusions of threats, whether real or imaginary, through a population in society as a result of rumors and exaggerated conclusions caused by unreasonable fear and panic.”
Dr. Desmet also holds a master’s degree in statistics, and it was through studying data from government reports on the risks of COVID-19 that he quickly discovered that established statistical methods had been completely bypassed. Instead, false depictions of how the pandemic was progressing were clearly created. He rapidly identified the risks of a totalitarian society emerging under these conditions and began warning the public through several publications and interviews. He now claims that it is a socially constructed psychosis with the intention of leading to global totalitarianism.
If we go further back in history, we find one of those who extensively studied the phenomenon of mass psychosis, Gustave Le Bon, born in 1841. He argues that mass psychosis is fundamentally created by a small group influencing the larger group.
”Civilizations have only been created and directed by a small intellectual aristocracy, never by the masses. Masses are only powerful for destruction. Their actions are always barbaric.”
When a group consciousness is established, intelligence within the group diminishes, and the group becomes entirely bound by emotions. The resulting emotions can be either better or worse than those of the individuals that make up the crowd – a crowd can become as easily heroic as criminal. A follower in an anonymous crowd will be less inclined to control their behavior, and consequently, irresponsible. In these circumstances, the sense of responsibility that normally governs an individual’s actions disappears. Responsibility and morality are thus entirely shifted to the small group leading the crowd.
Two fundamental factors underlie the transformation into a totalitarian society. The first is the destruction of the religious, political, and social beliefs that are deeply rooted in all parts of our civilization. We can call this our tradition and culture, which otherwise serve to guide the collective intelligence of a people. The second is the creation of entirely new conditions of existence and thought as a result of modern scientific and industrial discoveries. It takes a long time to implement such a change in society. We can clearly see this in our current society, which has completely gone against the traditions we have had for generations, to give us a new societal view and a new culture.
In a crowd, every feeling and action is contagious to such an extent that an individual quickly sacrifices their personal interest for the collective interest. This is an ability that goes against his nature and that a man is hardly capable of, except when he is part of a crowd. Today, we know that an individual, through various processes, can be brought into a state where, after losing his conscious personality, he follows all suggestions from individuals or groups that have deprived him of it. We see, therefore, the disappearance of the conscious personality, the takeover by the unconscious personality.
It is not only through their actions that the individual in a crowd differs significantly from themselves. Even before losing their independence completely, their ideas and feelings undergo a transformation, and the transformation is so profound that the skeptic becomes a believer, the honest man a criminal, and the coward a hero.
The individuals in the crowd who may have a personality strong enough to resist mass psychosis are too few in number to fight against the tide. In extreme cases, they may try to counter the development using various reasoning and facts without success. However, there are instances when singular strong emotional positive expressions have deterred crowds from the most bloodthirsty acts. Therefore, it can be assumed that a group under mass psychosis can, with the right methods, be steered away from self-destructive behavior and encouraged toward higher morality.
Le Bon highlights some clear outcomes of mass psychosis:
• The crowd becomes entirely controlled by external emotional stimuli.
• The images evoked in the minds of the crowd are accepted by them as truth.
• The crowd does not acknowledge doubt or uncertainty and always leans towards extremes.
• The crowd instinctively opposes change and progress.
• The temporary revolutionary instincts of crowds do not prevent them from being extremely conservative.
• The morality of crowds can be much lower or much higher than that of the individuals composing them.
These observations can serve as the basis for how we can create a method to reach the crowd and actually facilitate positive change. Especially notable is the instinctive resistance of a crowd to change and the importance of tradition and culture in group psychology. Through emotional rhetoric and affirmations, referencing cultural and ingrained morals, the crowd could theoretically undergo a transformation towards a higher collective consciousness.
Returning to Dr. Desmet, he outlines certain criteria that must be present to create mass psychosis. He suggests the need for many socially isolated individuals or people with a lack of social bonds. There must also be many people experiencing a lack of meaning in existence, where there is a lot of anxiety and it’s not easy to identify the cause of the problems. Furthermore, a significant amount of general discontent is required.
By playing on these emotions and by creating isolation, a lack of tradition and cultural ties, as well as encouraging general dissatisfaction and meaninglessness, opportunities arise to bring about drastic changes in human development. New powerful images are presented where the pandemic and the risk of being affected become the subjects of anxiety. Mass measures are created, akin to rituals, establishing new group belonging. The anxiety and meaninglessness felt by the people can be projected onto newly fabricated threats, and a new meaning can be offered by aligning with a new movement and ideology.
All attempts to oppose this new movement will be met with strong anger and even violence. This is because it awakens the fear of returning to a state of anxiety and separation from which they have just emerged. This explains why arguments based on facts will not work. Facts no longer matter to them. During mass psychosis, people become radically intolerant of dissenting voices. We also cannot win solely by exposing or overthrowing the current group that controls the masses. According to Dr. Desmet, a leaderless crowd is governed by the inherent unconscious group psychology and transitions to barbaric and animalistic behaviors.
Our strategy should, therefore, be developed with all these factors in mind. We must paint a picture that provides meaning and cohesion. We must offer alternatives and guidance. Despite the crowd’s total lack of logic and reasoning, this new tradition should be built on a deep and rational underlying ideology. That is our challenge.
Mikael Cromsjö, Group Psychology and Mass Psychosis
Professor Mattias Desmet – Mass Formation
How Crowd Consciousness Is Manipulated | The Work Of Gustave Le Bon
