Kudos to Pam Dewey on her outstanding presentation, “Batshit Crazy – Is There a Solution to Mass Delusion?” at the February 27, 2021 meeting of Owl & Ibis – A Confluence of Minds. Here is Pam’s description of her presentation containing an Internet link to the video.
There are several Mass Delusions currently affecting large
segments of the US population:
Large numbers of followers of the QAnon "complex"
of multiple conspiracy theories are convinced that vast numbers of celebrities
like Tom Hanks and politicians such as Hillary Clinton are part of a
secret cabal that rapes babies and children, sacrifices their bodies to Satan,
and drinks their blood.
A large segment of Evangelical Christians are convinced that
God Himself placed Donald Trump in the presidency in 2016, as almost a
Messianic figure who would not only "Make America Great Again," but
would "Make America Christian Again."
A large proportion of those people along with others are also convinced
that the 2020 election was stolen by a massive effort by Democrats to falsify
election results, and that Donald Trump was actually elected by a majority of
millions of voters.
Many are also convinced that Trump has a secret plan to use
the US military to take back the presidency in the near future.
All these delusional speculations are wreaking havoc on American society,
destroying relationships among families and friends, led to the attack on the
Capitol on January 6, and are ultimately threatening the whole institution
of democracy in America.
This video, originally designed as an introduction to a group discussion
session, explores the question ... is there a solution to mass delusions such
as those inflicting America now? The first section provides a brief
overview of the history of mass delusions, past and present. The second section
introduces the social/psychological phenomenon of "Cognitive Dissonance"
as a factor in understanding mass delusions. And the final section examines the
origin and progress of a recent incident of American mass delusion to see how
it may help explain certain aspects of the current mass delusions running amok in
American society. https://youtu.be/hKXcikNqQTw
- Pam Dewey
Great job, Pam! Thank you!