The Psychology of Totalitarianism is a new book by Mattias Desmet, a professor of clinical psychology at Ghent University in Belgium, outlining his theory of “mass formation”, especially with respect to the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In The Psychology of Totalitarianism, Desmet deconstructs the societal conditions that allow this collective psychosis to take hold. By looking at our current situation and identifying the phenomenon of “mass formation”—a type of collective hypnosis—he clearly illustrates how close we are to surrendering to totalitarian regimes.
Desmet describes the world in the clutches of mass formation, a dangerous, collective type of hypnosis, as we bear witness to loneliness, free-floating anxiety, and fear giving way to censorship, loss of privacy, and surrendered freedoms. It is all the result of a singular, focused crisis narrative that forbids dissident views and relies on destructive “group thinking”. Desmet then describes how the path to dystopia starts with the isolation of people and the breakdown of social bonds combined with a lack of meaning in life. This leads to free-floating anxiety and aggression. From this state, mass formation occurs when the group is led to identify an object of anxiety and a strategy for relieving it. These circumstances bring these hypnotized individuals back together into a mass with an exhilarating sense of communal striving for the “common good”. This all requires suppression of alternative views, and limited focused attention, to the exclusion of many aspects of reality.
Thus, with detailed analyses, examples, and results from years of research, Desmet lays out the steps that lead toward Mass Formation, including: – An overall sense of loneliness and lack of social connections and bonds – A lack of meaning—unsatisfying, meaningless jobs that don’t offer purpose – Free-floating anxiety and discontent that arises from loneliness and lack of meaning – Manifestation of frustration and aggression from anxiety – Emergence of a consistent narrative from government officials, mass media, etc., that exploits and channels frustration and anxiety.
In addition to a psychological perspective of Mass Formation, Desmet builds on the socio-political psychological views of Gustave Le Bon, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, and Hannah Arendt’s essential work on totalitarianism – The Origins of Totalitarianism. Desmet offers an in-depth critique of the cultural “groupthink” that existed prior to the pandemic and advanced during the Covid “pandemic”. He cautions against the dangers of our current societal landscape, media manipulation and censorship, and reliance on controlling technologies. He offers simple solutions, both individual and collective, to prevent the willing sacrifice of our freedoms. “We can honor the right to freedom of expression and the right to self-determination without feeling threatened by each other,” Desmet writes. “But there is a point where we must stop losing ourselves in the crowd to experience meaning and connection. That is the point where the winter of totalitarianism gives way to a spring of life.”
According to Desmet, totalitarianism is not a coincidence and forms from a set of unique circumstances. It arises from a collective Mass Formation that has followed a predictable script throughout history. Its formation gained strength and speed as technology advanced with each generation, from the Jacobins of the French Revolution to the Nazis, Stalinists, and Maoist Red Guard. Governments, mass media, and other Deep State forces use fear, loneliness, and isolation to demoralize populations and exert control, persuading large groups of people to act against their own interests, always with destructive results.
“Alternative voices are stigmatized by a veritable Ministry of Truth, which is crowded with “fact checkers.” Freedom of speech is curtailed by various forms of censorship and self-censorship; people’s right to self-determination is infringed upon by coercive vaccination strategies, which impose heretofore unthinkable social exclusion and segregation upon society.”
The book is well written and translated into easily readable English by Els Vanbrabant. A few sections are a bit dry and academic, but overall, the English version is clear and interesting with no hint that it is translated other than the frequent references to Belgium and Belgians. It includes an index and references. The book details the differences between a dictatorship and a totalitarian state. One clearly sees what has been underway in the last 2 years. Reading this will help one combat the march toward totalitarianism. In short, this is an excellent book on the current global situation regarding the “Covid pandemic”, the Great Reset, and the seemingly psychotic state of a large portion of the world’s population.
~ Review compiled by Dr. James Odell ~
Prof. Desmet organizes his work into three parts: (1) Science and Its Psychological Effects; (2) Mass Formation and Totalitarianism; and (3) Beyond the Mechanistic Worldview.
Part 1 traces the rise of modern science (from the Enlightenment on), and how its real-world, evidence-based methods gave humans confidence in both their intellect and their ability to master their physical environment. In doing so, people achieved phenomenal technological feats and improvements to medicine, engineering, energy-exploitation, and increased standard of living. But they also became alienated from their traditional life ways and cultures that had given their lives meaning for uncountable centuries. Religion declined as science—especially mechanistic science–replaced it as the dominant lens through which to interpret the world.
Most insidiously destructive of all, everything, including humans and their complex psychology, were reduced to problems to be solved and manipulated by physical and chemical intervention. World as clockwork, people as machines—mere tools to be tinkered with until experts can design and engineer our utopias (fascist, positivist, socialist, communist)—which of course always fail to deliver on their promises.
Part 2 treats the intriguing and topical material which might have first caught the attention of many readers during 2021-2022 when Desmet’s mass formation theory became widely known (often as “mass formation psychosis”) on internet blogs and various podcasts—most famously via Dr. Robert Malone on The Joe Rogan Experience (which provoked a short protest around Spotify)—and in the elegant and useful primer by Truman Verdun, Mass Formation (Psychosis): In Brief.
This Part 2 material addresses the four preconditions of totalitarianism (isolation, meaninglessness, anxiety, aggression) and the promises made and delivered by the leader called into existence by the atomized and fearful masses. The leader names the source of the problem and various means of eliminating it. In the corona context, that meant the problem is the virus (and later, the unvaccinated) and the solutions of lockdowns, vaccines, and censorship of dissident voices. All collateral damage and other potential solutions are ignored. The dissident voices are vital for keeping the hypnotized masses awake and from committing atrocities against scapegoats—as they nearly always do under totalitarianism.
Part 3, “Beyond the Mechanistic Worldview,” explores how our societies can supplement science—which needs serious reform to eliminate corruption, biases, flawed findings, and outright capture by powerful and monied interests—with both traditional and alternative ways of knowing and attaining meaning (community, spirituality, mastery of craft, etc.) and to further develop the humble and mystery-respecting frontiers of science as articulated by giants such as Einstein, Bohr, and Planck.
Desmet’s full book comprises 11 chapters plus an introduction, making for 12 segments in all. This summary goes through each segment individually, summarizing the main points, quoting selectively, and providing occasional brief analysis; a short recap appears at the end, along with 30 review questions and selected links to additional readings.
Mattias Desmet wrote in The Psychology of Totalitarianism,
“A society has to stay connected with its principles and fundamental rights, such as the right to freedom of speech, self-determination, and freedom of religion or belief. If a society fails to respect these fundamental rights of the individual, if it allows fear to escalate to such an extent that every form of individuality, intimacy, privacy, and personal initiative is regarded as an intolerable threat to the collective well-being, it will decay into chaos and absurdity.”
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At its birth, science was synonymous with open-mindedness, with a way of thinking that banished dogmas and questioned beliefs. As it evolved, however, it also turned itself into ideology, belief, and prejudice.
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Totalitarianism is not a historical coincidence. In the final analysis, it is the logical consequence of mechanistic thinking and the delusional belief in the omnipotence of human rationality.
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In short, the scientific discourse, like any dominant discourse, has become the privileged instrument of opportunism, lies, deception, manipulation, and power.
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