The Briefing Room
General Category => Editorial/Opinion/Blogs => Topic started by: rangerrebew on August 18, 2017, 01:24:41 pm
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August 18, 2017
Scott Adams explains TDS: ‘How to know if you’re in a mass hysteria bubble’
By Thomas Lifson
Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert and the pundit who best explained and predicted the Trump victory last year, diagnoses Trump Derangement Syndrome as a manifestation of the historical phenomenon of mass hysterias. As usual, there is a lot to chew on, and Adams adds his master persuader perspective to the question.
Along the way, he covers the role of cognitive dissonance in the process of creating and reinforcing the the fantasy bubble. This phenoemnon in its current manifestation was noted by Patricia McCarthy today:
Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2017/08/scott_adams_explains_tds_how_to_know_if_youre_in_a_mass_hysteria_bubble.html#ixzz4q73wxovn
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‘How to know if you’re in a mass hysteria bubble’
You still call yourself a NeverTrumper?
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"Cognitive dissonance" aptly describes most EverTrump worshippers.
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Very good analysis. Everyone here should read it.
A few should read it twice.
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I've certainly thrown my barbs at Trump, but I cannot find fault for him concerning Charlottesville. He neither sanctioned the violence which occurred there (which wouldn't have happened if the Antifa thugs hadn't shown up), and he specifically condemned all groups on both sides for the violence at the rally.
And furthermore, what he said was true...both sides have violent members who must be punished for their criminal acts.
But a number of people, on both sides, cannot stop themselves from blaming Trump for everything. And even after he condemned far right fringe nut groups, they accused of secretly being a Nazi or WN or being sympathetic to their goals.
Among my criticisms of Trump was not that he was a Nazi or WN. He's mostly interested in himself, but I doubt he hates minorities or other leftist pet groups.
In this particular instance Trump was right. All sides should stop with the hate and come together.
That isn't going to happen, but it's not Trump's fault. The divide was growing at a rapid pace before he came along.
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A mass hysteria happens when the public gets a wrong idea about something that has strong emotional content and it triggers cognitive dissonance that is often supported by confirmation bias. In other words, people spontaneously hallucinate a whole new (and usually crazy-sounding) reality and believe they see plenty of evidence for it. The Salem Witch Trials are the best-known example of mass hysteria. The McMartin Pre-School case and the Tulip Bulb hysteria are others. The dotcom bubble probably qualifies. We might soon learn that the Russian Collusion story was mass hysteria in hindsight. The curious lack of solid evidence for Russian collusion is a red flag. But we’ll see how that plays out.
The most visible Mass Hysteria of the moment involves the idea that the United States intentionally elected a racist President. If that statement just triggered you, it might mean you are in the Mass Hysteria bubble. The cool part is that you can’t fact-check my claim you are hallucinating if you are actually hallucinating. But you can read my description of the signs of mass hysteria and see if you check off the boxes.
But if you are not experiencing mass hysteria, you might be totally confused by the actions of the people who are. They appear to be irrational, but in ways that are hard to define. You can’t tell if they are stupid, unscrupulous, ignorant, mentally ill, emotionally unstable or what. It just looks frickin’ crazy.
The reason you can’t easily identify what-the-hell is going on in the country right now is that a powerful mass hysteria is in play. If you see the signs after I point them out, you’re probably not in the hysteria bubble. If you read this and do NOT see the signs, it probably means you’re trapped inside the mass hysteria bubble.
Here are some signs of mass hysteria. This is my own take on it, but I welcome you to fact-check it with experts on mass hysteria.
http://blog.dilbert.com/post/164297628606/how-to-know-youre-in-a-mass-hysteria-bubble
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With Trump I see it more as, "I don't care about what happened 200 years ago. History is full of one group of people doing bad things to another group of people, but what matters is where we are today."
And if we are to apply today's standards to people who lived before the 1900s, well we might as well take down every statue of anyone who was born before the year 1900, because they won't measure up.
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The remaining four points of his thesis follow from here:
1. The trigger event for cognitive dissonance
On November 8th of 2016, half the country learned that everything they believed to be both true and obvious turned out to be wrong. The people who thought Trump had no chance of winning were under the impression they were smart people who understood their country, and politics, and how things work in general. When Trump won, they learned they were wrong. They were so very wrong that they reflexively (because this is how all brains work) rewrote the scripts they were seeing in their minds until it all made sense again. The wrong-about-everything crowd decided that the only way their world made sense, with their egos intact, is that either the Russians helped Trump win or there are far more racists in the country than they imagined, and he is their king. Those were the seeds of the two mass hysterias we witness today.
Trump supporters experienced no trigger event for cognitive dissonance when Trump won. Their worldview was confirmed by observed events.
http://blog.dilbert.com/post/164297628606/how-to-know-youre-in-a-mass-hysteria-bubble
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Very good analysis. Everyone here should read it.
A few should read it twice.
:thumbsup3: :thumbsup3:
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I've certainly thrown my barbs at Trump, but I cannot find fault for him concerning Charlottesville. He neither sanctioned the violence which occurred there (which wouldn't have happened if the Antifa thugs hadn't shown up), and he specifically condemned all groups on both sides for the violence at the rally.
And furthermore, what he said was true...both sides have violent members who must be punished for their criminal acts.
But a number of people, on both sides, cannot stop themselves from blaming Trump for everything. And even after he condemned far right fringe nut groups, they accused of secretly being a Nazi or WN or being sympathetic to their goals.
Among my criticisms of Trump was not that he was a Nazi or WN. He's mostly interested in himself, but I doubt he hates minorities or other leftist pet groups.
In this particular instance Trump was right. All sides should stop with the hate and come together.
That isn't going to happen, but it's not Trump's fault. The divide was growing at a rapid pace before he came along.
Couldn't agree more! In fact, in my estimation, he has been right far more than he has been wrong up to this point!
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Off-topic, but it kind of cracks me up that Scott Adams is now a "pundit". When did that happen? What are the qualifications for punditry, and how did he attain those? Where does the job title of pundit fall within the cartoonist career track?
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Off-topic, but it kind of cracks me up that Scott Adams is now a "pundit". When did that happen? What are the qualifications for punditry, and how did he attain those? Where does the job title of pundit fall within the cartoonist career track?
What's the difference? They all just have opinions, seems to me that's the only qualification one needs these days.
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A good article, worth reading.
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After spending a week listening to the MSM drone on and on over what is self-evident to the average American, the Scott Adams blog is a breath of fresh air. Once in a while it is good to know there are others who inhabit the alternative universe. You know, the one where EVERYONE who carries helmets and clubs to a protest shares blame.
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After spending a week listening to the MSM drone on and on over what is self-evident to the average American, the Scott Adams blog is a breath of fresh air. Once in a while it is good to know there are others who inhabit the alternative universe. You know, the one where EVERYONE who carries helmets and clubs to a protest shares blame.
Well said Victor! :amen:
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Good read.
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Off-topic, but it kind of cracks me up that Scott Adams is now a "pundit". When did that happen? What are the qualifications for punditry, and how did he attain those? Where does the job title of pundit fall within the cartoonist career track?
Much of the humor emerges as the audience sees the characters making obviously ridiculous decisions that are natural reactions to mismanagement. wikipedia
Adams probably has a grasp of things more than most.
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I caught Howie Carr this week and he had on the most fascinating segment. His audience called in with their memories of media-generated mass hysteria over the last 30-40 years.
From Alar in apple juice to Legionnaires disease to the Ozone hole, there were dozens and dozens of media scares I hadn't thought about in years – but funny how I remembered them all. Interesting too that almost all were health scares.
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After spending a week listening to the MSM drone on and on over what is self-evident to the average American, the Scott Adams blog is a breath of fresh air. Once in a while it is good to know there are others who inhabit the alternative universe. You know, the one where EVERYONE who carries helmets and clubs to a protest shares blame.
Exactly
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http://youtube.com/watch?v=L0CVoFsUhC4 (http://youtube.com/watch?v=L0CVoFsUhC4)
Every man has a place
In his heart there's a space
And the world can't erase his fantasies
Take a ride in the sky
On our ship fantasise
All your dreams will come true right away
And we will live together
Until the twelfth of never
Our voices will ring forever as one
Every thought is a dream
Rushing by in a stream
Bringing life to your kingdom of doing
Take a ride in the sky
On our ship fantasise
All your dreams will come true miles away
Our voices will ring together
Until the twelfth of never
We all will love together as one
Come to see victory
In a land called fantasy
Loving life a new degree
Bring your mind to everlasting liberty
As one
Come to see victory
In a land called fantasy
Loving life for you and me
To behold to your soul is ecstasy
You will find other kind
That has been in search of you
Many lives have brought you to
Recognise it's your life now in review
As you stay for the play
Fantasy has in store for you
A glowing light will see you through
It's your day shining day
All your dreams come true
As you glide in your stride
With the wind as you fly away
Give a smile from your lips and say
Are you free yes I'm free
And I'm on my way
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Off-topic, but it kind of cracks me up that Scott Adams is now a "pundit". When did that happen? What are the qualifications for punditry, and how did he attain those? Where does the job title of pundit fall within the cartoonist career track?
Everyone and anyone can be a pundit.
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Off-topic, but it kind of cracks me up that Scott Adams is now a "pundit". When did that happen? What are the qualifications for punditry, and how did he attain those? Where does the job title of pundit fall within the cartoonist career track?
The most basic "qualification for punditry" is the ability to get people to read your material. Adams has had a reliable fan base for many years because people who work in corporate surroundings have found his comic commentary insightful. Considering how far left he's been in the past (he actually hawked a line of Vegan food once), I've found his commentary on the Trump Wars very interesting. He started out hating Trump, but over time his opinion became more centered because he saw how irrational the Dems were becoming over Trump, and he couldn't abide being associated with that bunch anymore. This article is a natural conclusion of his journey.
Not an off-topic question at all, @Polly Ticks.
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With Trump I see it more as, "I don't care about what happened 200 years ago. History is full of one group of people doing bad things to another group of people, but what matters is where we are today."
And if we are to apply today's standards to people who lived before the 1900s, well we might as well take down every statue of anyone who was born before the year 1900, because they won't measure up.
:pondering:
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Sound like anyone you know? From the article:
But if you are not experiencing mass hysteria, you might be totally confused by the actions of the people who are. They appear to be irrational, but in ways that are hard to define. You can’t tell if they are stupid, unscrupulous, ignorant, mentally ill, emotionally unstable or what. It just looks frickin’ crazy.
:silly:
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...I'm not gonna say. Nope.
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I caught Howie Carr this week and he had on the most fascinating segment. His audience called in with their memories of media-generated mass hysteria over the last 30-40 years.
From Alar in apple juice to Legionnaires disease to the Ozone hole, there were dozens and dozens of media scares I hadn't thought about in years – but funny how I remembered them all. Interesting too that almost all were health scares.
Howie Carr is on Newsmax now, at least an hour or two of his radio show. I'll have to try to watch him.
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Off-topic, but it kind of cracks me up that Scott Adams is now a "pundit". When did that happen? What are the qualifications for punditry, and how did he attain those? Where does the job title of pundit fall within the cartoonist career track?
@Polly Ticks
It worked for Garry Trudeau when he felt like punditting, didn't it? ;)
As for Adams' argument, "derangement syndrome" has long enough been a convenient club with which to beat
the heads of someone who demurs from one's chosen temporal saviour. It's just another way to try shutting
down a discourse when the discourse turns to the negatives of said temporal saviour. We saw it with Clinton
supporters battering Clinton critics as suffering "Clinton derangement syndrome," likewise George W. Bush
supporters and "Bush derangement syndrome," likewise Obama supporters with Obama derangement syndrome.
It does precious little other than expose those "diagnosing" the syndrome as truly lacking.
And we have folks in this forum, on all sides of the Donaldus Minimus question, who are way too smart to
fall into or for that trap.