Kirkpatrick Reacts to Mattias Desmet, The Psychology of Totalitarianism.(1)

In a very confusing time Dr. Mattias Desmet enters with a remarkable explanation: on a societal basis we have entered a mass formation. What is "mass formation"? Desmet sets forth a definition:

Mass formation is, in essence, a kind of group hypnosis that destroys individuals' ethical self-awareness and robs them of their ability to think critically.(2)

Desmet's theory neither forbids nor requires conspiracy. Contrary to hypnosis, in which the hypnotizer retains awareness, mass formation sees "both the masses and their leaders gripped by an ideologically colored narrative… both, so to speak, are in the grip of a voice."(3)

Desmet's fundamental point of departure is that there are two kinds of science:

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.(4)

"Great science," says Desmet, "is open minded, but 'small science' degenerates into ideology, a non-science."(5) Soon, "mechanistic thinking provided the Grand Narrative in Western civilization."(6) When science became an ideology, it became "the privileged instrument of opportunism, lies, deception, manipulation, and power."(7) Desmet identifies this mechanistic mindset as a pivotal cause of dehumanization and societal decay. When conditions are ripe, all that is required to trigger a mass formation is the catalyst.

When mass formation occurs three groups are always formed. One group is entirely enthralled by the mass formation narrative and behavior. A larger group is not captured by the narrative but chooses to go along with it. Finally, a third group resists the narrative.

Is mass formation something new?

The medieval mass formations were mostly local and ephemeral in nature; the mass formations of the French revolution were already larger in scale and lasted a little longer; those of Stalinism and Nazism were much more significant and a lot more enduring. With the coronavirus crisis, we have, for the first time in history, reached a point where the entire world population is in the grip of a mass formation over a prolonged period of time.(8)

What I found most interesting was the four conditions and catalyst for mass formation. According to Desmet,

The first condition is generalized loneliness, social isolation, and lack of social bonds among the population.(9)

This deterioration of social connectedness leads to the second condition: lack of meaning in life.(10)

The third condition is the widespread presence of free-floating anxiety and psychological unease within a population.(11)

The fourth condition, in turn, also follows from the first three: a lot of free-floating frustration and aggression.(12)

Thus, these four conditions, each building on the ones preceding it, combine to fulfill the requirements for mass formation. Desmet illustrates using the principle of convection. When heat is applied to water, at first you have only limited water movement, only a few bubbles. But as it is brought to a full boil, soon virtually all of the water is moving.

The conditions described by Desmet are the very description of our society! All these are fulfilled throughout the culture; we are ripe for mass formation. Yet, even when these conditions are evident, still the catalyst is required. Hear his description of the catalyst:

The catalyst for mass formation is a suggestion in the public sphere. If, under the aforementioned circumstances, a suggestive story is spread through the mass media that indicates an object of anxiety—for example, the aristocracy under Stalinism, the Jews under Nazism, the virus, and, later, the anti-jabbers during the CV crisis—and at the same time offers a strategy to deal with that object of anxiety, there is a real chance that all the free-flowing anxiety will attach itself to that object and there will be broad social support for the implementation of the strategy to control that object of anxiety.(13)

So, there is the propagation of a story that points to an object of anxiety. Something is wrong; this is what that something is and this is how you deal with that object. By providing the catalyst, the pent-up free-floating energy already created by the four conditions, which is seeking release, is unleashed.

And so, in Germany: our problems are caused by the Jews… solution provided. In Stalin's USSR: our problems are caused by the kulacks… solution provided, and so on. As Desmet points out,

Through a common struggle with 'the enemy,' the disintegrating society regains its coherence, energy, and rudimentary meaning. For this reason, the fight against the object of anxiety then becomes a mission, laden with pathos and group heroism… in this fight all latent brewing frustration and aggression is taken out, especially on the group that refuses to go along with the story and the mass formation.(14)

All that is needed is a society that—intentionally or unintentionally—has been primed. Just that, and, the catalyst.

The author has described the mechanism of the mass formation process, but is there anything we can do about it? Desmet offers warnings and some hope.

Even under increasingly totalitarian conditions, "there always remain opportunities."(15) While inroads in the thinking of the they-drank-the-koolaid group are unlikely, persuasion in the largest group, the unconvinced yet compliant middle, is a real possibility.

In contrast to the first group, this group is responsive to the quality of rational argument. Therefore, it is important that the dissident voice analyzes and refutes the indoctrination and propaganda of the totalitarian narrative in the clearest and most substantiated way possible. In a sense, this is not difficult since the totalitarian discourse, especially its typical excessive use of numbers and statistics, is usually simply absurd. For the opposition, it is a matter of repeatedly and persistently, through the (limited) channels available for that purpose, piercing the web of appearances and showing, so far as possible, the way in which a false image is being created.(16)

This process has already been going on in the current mass formation. While presently there is no indication that the end is in sight for when conditions making the present mass formation possible will change, to paraphrase Desmet, the totalitarian system doesn't have to be overcome as much as endured, survived until it destroys itself.(17) Left to itself, a sinful system will destroy itself.

There is more to say, but I've left aside rich material from the book in order to limit my reaction. This includes the author's insight into how electronically mediated human interactions create feelings of emptiness; how there is a current crisis within the sciences over wildly unreliable data; how conspiracy theories usually obscure facts; there is his discussion of the remarkable power of suggestion, placebo, nocebo, and psychogenic death; and even how great science is turning to a more-than mechanistic worldview that is open to God.

With reference to his book, in a short space Desmet unpacks a highly plausible explanatory framework describing the present situation of our world. From a Christian standpoint, since the members of a church congregation all come from the same source—a society marinated in conditions ripe for mass formation—we should not be very much surprised that over these past 32 months, in some respects, congregations have found themselves divided in surprising new ways. We appear to be in a mass formation event akin to the French Revolution, but adapted to a rapidly changing technocratic age.

Possibly the most surprising development has been that so many church members and denominational leaders, were found so susceptible to the catalyst. Why have so many taken seriously the "suggestive stories" spread via mass media? Has primitive godliness been left behind? There has begun a radical reshuffling, an urgent seeking, renewed interest in finding, more precisely, what tribes we belong to or should belong to.

But how can an individual admit that possibly he has conversion issues, or give an account for how easily he was swept up in the formation? Who, 32 months into this global crisis, is willing to revisit the possibility he has operated on the basis of a mistaken sense of what was real? Few folks are up for that.

According to Desmet, "we are experiencing the endpoint of a cycle, the moment at which a ruling ideology is driven to its ultimate consequence, rears up with its full power for one last time, and thereby shows its powerlessness in a definitive and final way."(18)

It seems unlikely that the author shares a Bible perspective on end-time events. But he understands totalitarianism well."Totalitarianism," he says, "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."(19) He is right; the masses believe in the story not because it's accurate but because it creates a new social bond.(20) For many people, this is not about truth; it's about crucial elements of civilization which "small science" cannot provide. People grasp for the social bond because it is something, and sometimes something is all that it seems is within your reach.

Our society needs God; instead, all we are getting is this lousy technocrat T-shirt. Most of you would be helped by Desmet's book, so I'm giving it two-thumbs up! I believe we are in a mass formation. In a time when people's ethical self-awareness has been compromised, and critical thinking skills impaired, here is opportunity to better understand this extremely dangerous phenomenon.

Larry Kirkpatrick serves as pastor of the Muskegon and Fremont MI Seventh-day Adventist churches. His website is GreatControversy.org and YouTube channel is “Larry the guy from Michigan.” Every morning Larry publishes a new devotional video.

Notes:

1. Mattias Desmet, The Psychology of Totalitarianism, (Chelsea Green Publishing, White River Junction, Vermont, 2022) 204 pp.

2. Ibid., p. 2.

3. Ibid., p. 140.

4. Ibid., p. 17.

5. Ibid., p. 16.

6. Ibid.

7. Ibid., p. 18.

8. Ibid., p. 93.

9. Ibid., p. 94.

10. Ibid.

11. Ibid., p. 95.