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by Dr. Joseph Mercola
November 29,
2021
from
Technocracy Website
Spanish
version
STORY AT-A-GLANCE
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A psychological condition of society known as "mass
formation" is a condition for totalitarianism. Under
mass formation, a population willingly sacrifices
their freedom
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The central condition for mass formation to occur is
a lack of societal bonding. In other words, social
isolation on a mass scale, which is precisely what
the lockdowns were all about. But even before the
'pandemic', social isolation was at a historical high
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The second condition is that a majority of people
must experience life as meaningless and purposeless.
The third condition is widespread free-floating
anxiety and free-floating discontent. This refers to
discontent and anxiety that have no apparent or
distinct causes
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The fourth condition is free-floating frustration
and aggression, which tends to naturally follow the
previous three. Here, again, the frustration and
aggression have no discernible cause
-
Once these
four conditions are widespread, mass
formation can occur, which allows for
totalitarianism to rise and thrive. A key strategy
to break mass formation and prevent totalitarianism
is for dissenters to join together as one large
group, thereby giving fence-sitters who are not yet
fully hypnotized an alternative to going along with
the totalitarians. Another is to loudly speak out
against the totalitarian regime, as this is how
atrocities are limited
In 1938,
Technocracy defined itself as
"The Science of Social
Engineering".
This professor of
clinical psychology in Belgium
has revealed the four key
elements of "mass formation"
that cause people to disconnect
from reality.
The Great Panic
of 2020-2022
shows that all four have been realized
with
predictable outcomes.
Patrick M. Wood - TN Editor
In the video far below,
Mattias Desmet, professor of clinical
psychology at Ghent University in Belgium, reviews the societal
conditions under which a population ends up willingly sacrificing
their freedom.
Desmet, who also has a master's degree in statistics, discovered
peculiar anomalies in statistical analyses done during the COVID
'pandemic', which made him realize our global society is starting to
enter a "mass formation" state, a type of "collective hypnosis"
required for the rise of a totalitarian regime.
In this Aubrey Marcus podcast interview, Desmet reviews the
step-by-step formula that results in this collective hypnosis, and
how this formula has been deployed on the global population over the
past two years.
Needless to say, he warns us about continuing down this path, and
provides solutions that we can take, both on an individual and
collective basis, to prevent the loss of freedom that will surely
follow if we do nothing.
Nonsensical
Modeling
Around the end of February 2020, Desmet started looking at case
fatality rates and other statistics, quickly realizing that there
was something seriously wrong with the models presented to the
public and used as justification for shutting down "nonessential"
businesses and telling everyone to stay at home.
The models were greatly exaggerating the threat of SARS-CoV-2, and
by the end of May 2020, this was "proven beyond doubt."
For example,
the Imperial College in London predicted that if Sweden did not lock
down, 80,000 people would be dead by the end of May 2020.
Well,
Sweden opted not to lock down, and by the end of May only 6,000
people had died with a diagnosis of
COVID-19.
Strangest of all, Desmet says, was that everyone kept saying the
coronavirus countermeasures were based on mathematical models and
science, yet,
"when it was proven beyond doubt that the initial
models were completely wrong, the measures continued, as if nothing
was wrong and the models were right."
Clearly, then, modeling and science were not foundational or even
part of the equation at all.
This, Desmet says,
"was a strong sign
that there was something going on at the psychological level that
was really powerful."
Another tipoff that something was really wrong was the fact that
none of our political leaders were taking into account the
collateral damage of their countermeasures.
There was no
cost-benefit/risk-reward analysis for any of the countermeasures...
The World Health Organization
(WHO) did warn that the measures might
result in excess deaths from starvation.
Yet at no time did we ever
see a mathematical model that took into account both sides of the
coin - the death toll from the virus, and the collateral damage of
the countermeasures.
And without such an analysis, we could not
assess whether the countermeasures might be more harmful than the
virus...
Anytime you consider a public health measure, a cost-benefit
analysis is essential. You cannot make a sensible decision without
it.
Yet here, such basics
were ignored as if the collateral damage
was inconsequential...
The Four Base
Conditions for 'Mass Formation'
What psychological dynamics and processes might be responsible for
this apparent blindness?
After a couple of months, Desmet finally
realized what was going on.
Society was (and still is) under the
spell of a mass hypnosis, a psychological process known as "mass
formation" that arises in society when specific conditions are met.
The central condition is a lack of societal bonding.
In other words,
social isolation on a mass scale, which is precisely what the
lockdowns were all about.
We were all told that any contact with
others, including members of our own family, could be a death
sentence...
I've heard of people who for over a year have not met with a single
person, remaining locked in their homes the entire time, for fear of
contagion. But social isolation was a widespread problem even before
the 'pandemic'.
Marcus cites a survey, which found 25% of respondents
didn't have a single close friend.
What's more, the loneliest age
group were young adults, not seniors, as typically suspected.
So, even before the
'pandemic', Western societies were suffering from
a lack of community, which is a key condition for "mass formation"
syndrome to emerge in the first place.
The second condition is that a majority of people must experience
life as meaningless and purposeless.
Desmet cites research showing
that half of all adults feel their jobs are completely meaningless,
providing no value to either themselves or others.
In another poll, done in 2012, 63% of respondents said they were
"sleepwalking" through their workdays, putting no passion into their
work whatsoever.
So, condition No. 2 for mass formation hypnosis was
also fulfilled, even before the 'pandemic' hit.
The third condition is widespread
free-floating anxiety and
free-floating discontent.
Free-floating anxiety refers to anxiety
that has no apparent or distinct cause.
If you're in the jungle and
find yourself chased by a lion, your fear and anxiety have a
natural, easily-identified cause - the lion.
However, when you are socially disconnected and feel your life has
no meaning, then a free-floating anxiety can emerge that is not
connected to a mental or physical representation of a specific
threat.
Judging by the popularity of
antidepressants and other
psychiatric drugs, condition No. 3 was also fulfilled long before
the 'pandemic'.
The fourth condition is free-floating frustration and aggression,
which tends to naturally follow the previous three.
Here, again, the
frustration and aggression have no discernible cause.
When
Conditions Are Met, Mass Formation Emerges
When these four conditions are fulfilled by a large enough portion
of society, they are ripe for mass formation hypnosis...
All that's
needed now is a story in which the source or cause of the anxiety is
identified and spelled out, while simultaneously providing a
strategy for addressing and neutralizing that cause.
By accepting and participating in whatever that strategy is, people
with free-floating anxiety feel equipped, finally, with the means to
control their anxiety and avoid panic.
They feel like they're in
charge again.
Interestingly, when this happens, people also suddenly feel
reconnected with others, because they've all identified the same
nemesis. So, they're joined together in a heroic struggle against
the mental representation of their anxiety.
This new-found
solidarity also gives their lives new meaning and purpose.
Together, this connection, while based on a false premise, acts to
strengthen the psychological disconnect from reality.
It explains
why so many have bought into a clearly illogical narrative, and why
they are willing to participate in the prescribed strategy,
"even
if it's utterly absurd," Desmet says.
"The reason they buy into
the narrative is because it leads to this
new social bond," he explains.
Science, logic and correctness have
nothing to do with it.
"Through the process of mass formation, they switch from the very
painful condition of social isolation to the opposite state of
maximal connectedness that exists in a crowd or a mass.
That in and of itself leads up to a sort of mental intoxication,
which is the real reason people stick to the narrative, why people
are willing to go along with the narrative, even, as we said, it is
utterly wrong, and even if they lose everything that is important to
them, personally."
These losses can include their mental and physical health, their
homes, livelihoods and material well-being.
None of it matters when
you're under the hypnotic spell of mass formation...
And this, Desmet
says, is one of the most problematic aspects of this psychological
phenomenon.
Masses of people become self-destructive through their
myopic focus.
19th Century
Mass Formation
Gustave Le Bon, a French social psychologist renowned for his study
of crowds once said:
"The masses have never thirsted after truth. They turn aside from
evidence that is not to their taste, preferring to deify error, if
error seduce them.
Whoever can supply them with
illusions is easily
their master; whoever attempts to destroy their illusions is always
their victim."
Le Bon's book, "The Crowd - A Study of the Popular
Mind," takes a
deep-dive into the characteristics of human crowds and how, when
gathered in groups, people tend to relinquish conscious deliberation
in favor of unconscious crowd action.
He warned that if society didn't take heed and ward of social
isolation and the anti-religious idea that life has no purpose, we
would end up in a state where mass formation would become the norm.
These psychologically damaged people would take over, which is
precisely what happened.
A key example is the Nazi regime.
Desmet points out that while we
typically think of dictatorships arising from the use of brute force
and fear, the Nazi regime - and the leadership we're faced with
right now - came into power on the back of this deep psychological
phenomenon known as mass formation.
People WILLINGLY participated in the Nazi atrocities because of the
psychological state society was in, the mass formation phenomenon,
not because they feared their leader.
Key Difference
Between 'Dictatorship' and 'Totalitarianism'
So, it's important to realize that classical dictatorships and
totalitarianism arise from different causes.
As a general rule,
in a
classic dictatorship, the dictator becomes milder and less
aggressive once dissident voices, his opposition, are silenced.
Once
he has seized complete power, he doesn't need to be aggressive
anymore and can resort to other means to maintain control.
In a
totalitarian state, the exact opposite occurs.
This is crucial
for us to understand, because,
in a totalitarian society, once the
opposition is silenced, that's when the state commits its greatest
and cruelest atrocities...
An example of this is,
Stalin's purification scheme in the 1930s,
which led to the death of about 80 million people in a single
decade.
The mid-30s is also when the
Nazi regime began its insane
cleansing, which resulted in the Holocaust.
Both occurred after the
vocal opposition had been quenched.
We're now at another watershed moment in history, where the
opposition to the 'pandemic' madness is being silenced.
If we want
humanity to survive and not succumb to global totalitarianism,
we
must keep speaking against it, because when we stop, THAT'S when the
real atrocities will begin.
In other words, we ain't seen nothing
yet...
The worst is still to come - if we fall silent.
Here's another important point.
Totalitarians don't stop committing
atrocities once the opposition is vanquished. It merely expands to
new groups.
Desmet recounts how Stalin switched from one scapegoat
to the next, as he kept running out of groups to blame and had them
killed off.
Eventually, he ended up murdering half of his Communist
Party members, even though most had done nothing wrong and were
loyal to him.
That's something to ponder in our present situation.
Right now,
"anti-vaxxers" are the opposition the totalitarian regime seeks to
destroy.
Once there are no more "anti-vaxxers," say, theoretically,
that everyone in the world got the shot, the opposition to be done
away with would become some other group.
So, if you're "vaccinated" and up on all your boosters right now and
are cheering on the crusade against those who don't want the shot,
know that it's only a matter of time before it's your turn to be
victimized over something...
The Tragic End
that Awaits All Mass Formation Societies
The fate of those who succumb to mass formation and embrace
totalitarianism is particularly tragic, in a sense, because of
another curious thing that occurs.
People under its spell often end
up agreeing that they deserve to die and willingly go to their
death. This, Desmet says, is what happened with many of Stalin's
party members who were given death sentences for no apparent reason.
As noted by Marcus, this is basically menticide, the killing of the
mind...
The psychological process of
menticide so degrades the mental
faculties that rational thinking is no longer possible, making you
profoundly gullible. In this state, you'll buy into any narrative
without critical thinking.
Mass formation also always ends up creating more of the conditions
that allowed it to emerge in the first place.
So,
in the end, people
who are under mass formation hypnosis will feel greater social
isolation than ever before, less meaning and purpose in life, and
more free-floating anxiety and free-floating aggression than before.
Mass formation also erases individuality.
The group becomes
all-important and the individual inconsequential.
Hence being told
you, your parents or children deserve or need to die for the
betterment of society is acceptable and agreeable.
"Everyone becomes equally stupid, essentially," Desmet says.
"It
doesn't matter how smart or intelligent they were before. They lose
all capacity for critical thinking, they lose all individual
characteristics."
Applied to today, this is shockingly relevant.
It helps explain how
and why parents are willing to line up their children for
an
experimental injection that can disable or kill them.
"Totalitarianism is a monster that ALWAYS devours its own children," Desmet says...
Mass Formation
in Action
Another important point is that, typically,
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only 30% of people in a
totalitarian society are actually under the hypnotic spell of mass
formation. It seems greater, but they're actually in a minority.
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However, there's typically another 40% that simply go along with the
program, even though they're unconvinced. They don't want to stick
out by going against the prevailing current.
-
The remaining 30% are
not hypnotized and want to wake the others up.
The so-called
Asch experiments clearly demonstrated that,
very few
people, only 25%, are willing to go against the crowd, no matter how
absurd and obviously wrong the crowd's opinion is.
Two-thirds of
people are willing to go along with "idiocracy"...
Time and again, mass formation events and experiments show us there
are three groups of people:
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those who become spellbound and actually
believe that the wrong answer is the right one
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those who know the
answer is wrong, but dare not tell the truth so they agree with what
they know to be false
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those who know the answer is wrong and
say so...
How to Break
Mass Formation
All of this points to what the answer is.
According to Desmet,
what
dissidents need to do is firstly join together to form one large group.
This
gives the largest, 40% group - the fence-sitters who only go along
with the program because they're afraid of being ostracized - an
alternative social bonding platform.
Most of them are likely to join the dissident anti-totalitarian
group rather than follow the totalitarian mindset that they don't
fully agree with.
At that point, the mass formation is done...
The
totalitarian state is finished because the neutral fence-sitters,
which allowed for mass formation to take root and grow, are now no
longer participating in that process.
And without mass formation, a
totalitarian takeover cannot succeed.
Secondly, we must continue to speak out - LOUDLY...
Speaking out can
help minimize the number of people who get hypnotized.
It can also
wake some up who already are under the mass formation spell.
According to Desmet, speaking out has also been shown to limit the
atrocities committed.
"In my opinion, it is not an option to stop speaking," he says.
"It's the most important thing we can do."
It's not easy...
As discussed by Marcus and Desmet,
the totalitarian
regime has the benefit of being able to control the narrative
through a centralized media...
Not surprisingly,
mass media is a key
tool for the successful creation of mass formation.
A third action item is creating parallel structures.
The power of
this strategy was demonstrated by Vaclav Havel, a political
dissident who eventually became the president of Czechoslovakia.
A
parallel structure is any kind of business, organization,
technology, movement or creative pursuit that fits within a
totalitarian society while being morally outside of it.
Once enough parallel structures are created, a parallel culture is
born that functions as a sanctuary of sanity within the totalitarian
world.
Havel explains this strategy in his book, "The Power of the
Powerless."
As noted by Desmet, totalitarianism will always
self-destruct in the end.
The psychological underpinnings are so
self-destructive that the system falls apart.
That's the good news.
The bad news is a totalitarian system can survive for long periods
of time before petering out, and there tend to be few survivors at
the end...
That said, Desmet believes this new global totalitarianism
is more unstable than regional dictator-led totalitarian systems, so
it may self-destruct faster.
So,
the key is to survive outside the
totalitarian system while we wait for it to self-destruct...
However, we must still dissent in word and deed, in order to
limit
the atrocities and mitigate the damage.
Ultimately, as in medicine,
preventing totalitarianism is far easier
than trying to break free later.
To do that, we need to prevent the
four root causes of mass formation in society:
This will be the task of those who remain
once this global totalitarianism experiment fails and falls.
Video
Sources and
References
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The Crowd - A Study of the Popular
Mind
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