By Ulrike Granögger
Is it all a big con?
A curious phenomenon called “mass formation” is said to be responsible for the totalitarian power grab of the ruling classes as well as for the mindless acceptance and spineless submission of the greater part of the world’s population to an ever-changing cascade of rules and health care measures.
The anomaly is explained to us by Professor Mattias Desmet of Ghent University, who is introduced as an expert in understanding mass formation psychosis. As such, Prof. Desmet has been invited to and interviewed by numerous channels of the new media and freedom podcasts—from the Joe Rogan Experience to the Corbett Report and Reiner Füllmich’s Corona-Ausschuss.
I have decided to read and review his recently published book… so you don’t have to.
It is perplexing that so many freedom activists are following this theory. Interviews with Dr. Desmet so far have failed to convince me of the theory’s ascendency in explaining the events of the last two years, and reading the book has certainly not helped. On the contrary.
The book presents a simplistic and abridged view of human society and the historical evolution of the modern mind. According to the theory, today’s alleged mass hypnosis originates from the Enlightenment period and its subsequent rationalization of life which, in turn, led to a scientific and industrial revolution. The ensuing mechanistic worldview produced a psychology of isolation and uncertainty in society that laid the groundwork for a deep-rooted “desire for a master” and the need to focus all this “free-floating anxiety” onto an object of fear. Voilà! That is your breeding ground for the major “mass formations” of the 20th century (Hitler, Stalin) and of today (coronavirus).
According to Prof. Desmet, the situation is further aggravated by certain stages of “developmental psychology” such as the need for the guiding voice of the parent, and the experience of deep uncertainty when the child’s “why” questions are not fully answered… with the implication being that our society as a whole is stuck in certain childhood phases of development.
This cannot explain, however, why the governments of other societies around the world (think of Arabic countries, or Thailand and Indonesia) imposed the same totalitarian measures over the past two years, even though they hardly followed European intellectual history from the Enlightenment to its modern fragmentation and isolation of the individual.
More disturbingly, the author seems to believe that we all did this to ourselves. There is no plan of any “elites,” there is no conspiracy; in fact, Prof. Desmet declares, those who do not follow the mainstream narrative and who see certain patterns of planning and coordination at play are also under a form of mass formation hypnosis, only following a different illusion. He writes:
“In this state, the confused spectator typically develops an intense need for a simple frame of reference, which allows him to mentally master the complexity, and in which to place and control the anxiety and other intense emotions that arise. An interpretation in terms of a conspiracy meets that need. It reduces the enormous complexity of the phenomenon to a simple frame of reference: All anxiety is linked to one object (a group of people who intentionally deceives, the supposed “elite”) and thereby becomes mentally manageable. All blame can be placed outside oneself…. As such, in a certain sense, conspiracy thinking—the thinking that reduces all world events to one big conspiracy—fulfills the same function as mass formation.” (pp.127-128; emphasis added)
Hence, everybody is under mass formation hypnosis—those who cluelessly believe the TV news anchor, as well as those who are finding clues for conspiratorial planning. However, according to the theory, all we need to do is change our way of thinking about reality, and we will be free!
“The ultimate master is the ideology, not the elite.” (p. 134) “If anything rules from behind the scenes, it’s not so much secret societies, but ideologies. There is a steering and organizing body, but it does not primarily consist of a conspiracy elite that manages the world in a planned and coordinated way, but rather of a typical way of thinking, an ideology … a myth [and not a conspiracy].” (p. 139)
It is not people, agencies, multinationals, or governments who engage in the manipulation and formation of public opinion and behavior, Prof. Desmet says, but the “impersonal” nature (p.131) of the predominant ideology.
“The totalitarian system doesn’t have to be overcome so much as one must somehow survive until it destroys itself.” (p. 143)
In the meantime, we can sit back and practice the “solution” to the totalitarian tendencies we are experiencing— and, according to Prof. Desmet, are actually creating ourselves—and that is to simply change our minds: Going “beyond the mechanistic worldview” that is based on materialism to one that includes “consciousness,” which for the author is essentially psychology. (Chapters 9–11)
Everything in this book leads the reader away from realizing the very personalized control grid that is working on “one person at a time” and prevents them from seeing the action we as individuals can take.
The author quotes the conformity experiment by Solomon Asch* (pp. 98-99) as “proof” for the effect of mass formation. In my opinion, all that Asch’s experiment proves is that it takes seven lying participants to convince one person of an obvious falsehood. That’s how costly the control grid is.
Curiously, in Dr. Desmet’s impressive list of scientific publications, there is not a single one about “mass formation” psychosis or hypnosis. Why he is regarded as an “expert” in the field is not evident. Furthermore, a Google (and DuckDuckGo) search for the keywords “mass formation” in the time period of 1980 to 2019 does not yield one entry of psychology or social history. Up until 2019, “mass formation” appears only in terms of astronomy and the formation of stellar masses…. Is the term made up?
Is it all a big con?
Related Reading:
The Desmet/Malone Ideology of Mass Psychosis Blames the Citizens and Not the Global Predators
Mattias Desmet: Mass Hypnosis Expert or Trojan Horse? The Full Story – America Out Loud
Footnote: * In the Solomon Asch experiment a group of eight participants is asked to identify the two lines of equal length in a set of four. Seven participants are part of the experiment and instructed to choose the wrong line, while one person is the actual test subject. As a result, most of the unwitting participants will follow peer pressure and also choose the wrong answer, against their own judgment.
I wonder how the French or American Revolution would have looked through the prism of 21st century psychoanalysis. A bunch of authority defiant conspiracy theorists who suffered from mass formation psychosis.
It is wonderful for Mr. Global to have these eminent scholars show us that political and social injustice are really just problems of individual perception.
I was also unimpressed by this book–for it misses the causation of today’s Totalitarianism–(WEF Totalitarian Plundering – aka the “WTP”)?
Thanks for review Ulrike.
I bought Desmet’s book, and after 40 quick pages of angrily scrawling some disagreement, sarky comment or expletive on each page, I binned it. What’s the point of continuing if his foundations are infested with the rot of confusion? By the end of chapter one he seems to have totally confused the definition of science.. He’s already blown his cover. I was hoping for a bit of intellectual rigour and precision, but for somebody carrying the academic title of professor, this is grade A junk.
I kept going because I had promised to read it. Grossly oversimplified, there are three parts. Part I – intellectual confusion Part II Delivery of “Blame the Victim” and discredit writers and researcher documenting the global coup Part III – intellectual confusion. Intellectual confusion happens to the best of us. It was the part in the middle that is pretty shocking especiallly when you realize the people endorsing this theory based on the interviews.
Thank you for this review, Ulrike.
It is about time that there is some pushback against this mass formation theory.
I like to look at the stream of news in terms of narratives that are being promoted. And in my view – the ‘mass formation’ theory promotes a ‘blame the victim’ narrative, and completely sidesteps:
1) structures of power – that we are dealing with a power grab by a small elite, a revolution that is initiated from above. It is interesting to read that the book postulates conspiracy thinking as a simplistic way for someone under mass hypnoses to explain his reality. Isn’t that an upside-down argument! To unravel real-world conspiracies actually requires discernment and the ability to deal with complexity.
2) that totalitarianism is about a power relation between an abusive government and a victimized population, see for example this article by AIER – Fifteen Signs You’re in an Abusive Relationship with the Government https://www.aier.org/article/fifteen-signs-youre-in-an-abusive-relationship-with-the-government/. I am also thinking of R.J. Rummel’s work on Democide and his book ‘power kills’. He shows statistically that totalitarian governments are most likely to kill citizens (democide) – and that these types of governments have killed more people during the 20th century than all wars in that period (WOI and WOII included) combined. The hallmark of totalitarianism according to Rummel is the lack of respect for the individual, and individual freedom. It is about an assault, not a ‘spontaneous mass hypnosis’ in response to ‘free floating anxiety and a sense of meaninglesness’.
3) that the knowledge, sciences and technologies to instill obedience and hypnosis and psychologically break people have been perfected over more than a century – and they been applied in the last 2.5 years with scientific precision – through behavioral science techniques and cognitive warfare – and any and all technologies to influence our pre-cognitive processes in order to change our worldview, emotions, self-perception, sense of belonging, ideas, behavior and cognition itself. It is a real ‘weltanschauungskrieg’ – and that should be the narrative – the topic of conversation: the assault on the individual, to think and choose and act and feel for himself.
Thank you Elze for profound comments. You nailed the 3 most important points. Especially No. 3) regarding mind control which Prof. Desmet, who studied hypnotism himself, seems to be (pretends to be?) completely unaware of.
In the book he is “aware” of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, the Jesuits, the Illuminati, QAnon, satanists, and that he himself is accused of being “controled opposition”… He writes about all these groups, and yet is not informed about mind control technologies and cognitive warfare?? Really? C’mon. It’s rather what he is engaging in.
Yes, there are elements of “truth” in the book (in other contexts they would be called “half-truths”); yes, I, too, believe “consciousness” is a factor that should be included in physics; yes, the cosmos is not simply a mechanistic clockwork; yes, there is most likely a fractal, scale-invariant, and negentropic reality underlying time and space…
But, please, let’s not get hoodwinked by these phrases into the appeasing and self-negating acceptance that “we did this to ourselves”.
This psy-op must stop.
Appreciate the book review, will definitely scrap this one off my list. Based on your summary, it seems like Dr. Desmet tried to be publisher friendly. This definitely differs from his appearances in the corona ausschuss.
There is certainly merit to the basis that psychological mechanisms are utilized by Mr. Global to the detriment of the masses. I’ve too read this book, and feel he simply has a naive view of the world, but a strong handle on some psychological mechanisms that underpin the manner in which mind control, propaganda and persuasion are effectively used against mass populations. He certainly has blind spots, but there is also certainly wisdom in understanding the foundational psychological faults in which many are hoodwinked.
Well, you and I are going to have to disagree completely on this one! 🙂
Yes ma’am, I knew that going in on this one 😉 nothing but love to you all the same !!
There is an element of ‘truth’ for each of us in both the ideas of Desmet and their weaknesses. The important thing is their open discussion. Thank you for this excellent critique.
hahaha!
This sounds like Q garbage…
“The totalitarian system doesn’t have to be overcome so much as one must somehow survive until it destroys itself.” (p. 143)
Just keep sitting on that couch. All is well.
What a con?!
Thank you Ulrike, you spared me the torture of reading that book.
Thanks to Ulrike for the review. I still would like to take a look at the book myself.
Please do pass along to not use Duckduckgo anymore, as mentioned in the review; it has sold out and engages in censorship: https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/duckduckgo-censorship-destroys-brand/
Political Ponerology by Andrew M. Lobaczewski may be a better use of your time.
https://library.solari.com/ignotas-nulla-curatio-morbid-a-review-of-political-ponerology-by-andrew-m-lobaczewski-2/
Book Review: Ignotas Nulla Curatio Morbid – Political Ponerology by Andrzej M. Lobaczewski
January 15, 2007
Ignotas nulla curatio morbid – do not attempt to cure what you do not understand – is the opening theme in this study of evil. Political Ponerology is “a science on the nature of evil adjusted for political purposes.” The author, Andrzej Lobaczewski, describes himself as a Polish psychologist who — with many other colleagues — found meaning living through Nazism and then Communism by studying how evil happens and triumphs in a wider political and economic system.
Lobaczewski’s hypothesis is that a small percentage of humans are born psychopaths. He describes the research to back up that data that was destroyed and suppressed. Another minority percentage are of a nature to go along with psychopaths while the vast majority of people are essentially healthy. The majority who are healthy have a difficult time understanding that some people are not — they cannot fathom being a psychopath or acting like one.
Thanks for the suggestion! Will look into that, too.
I may be in the minority, but I think the ideas presented on Solari and those of Mattias Desmet are not at odds with each other. It is not my intention to be a mass formation apologist but my read that there is confusion leading to disagreement. For example, it seems to me that there is overlap between the “control grid” concept and the necessary conditions he specifies in his theory. That is, it makes sense to me that the “control grid” concept would contribute to the isolation, lack of meaning, anxiety, etc. in a population. Also, the creation and implementation of a control grid seems entirely compatible with a mechanistic world view he discusses. Would it be argued that Mr. Global is not a enlightenment materialist and that this isn’t foundational to the problems at hand?
Related, the idea that it happens “one person at a time” is entirely consistent with the psychological principles in the theory. Masses are formed one person at a time, this is not in dispute.
Also, I don’t get the same read that “mass formation is responsible for the totalitarian power grab.” It seems that he is saying mass formation can be used to explain the behavior of a certain percentage of the population. Also, he doesn’t place it as causal in leading to totalitarianism, it could just as well be concomitant, or a consequence.
For what it is worth, mass formation is not a made up term. It can be found in the works of Freud, for example. To make it easier, “mass” can be translated as “crowd” and there is a large contemporary “crowd psychology” literature. Interestingly, like Ulrike, these contemporary crowd psychology academics dislike mass formation and say is not a legitimate scientific area of study. In particular, they poo poo works of LeBon that Desmet cites. However, LeBon is the foundation of their area of study and was used to great effect by totalitarian regimes in the 20th century, just ask Joseph Geobbels. Interestingly, this group naysayers consists of those like Stephen Reicher, who has been fixture behind the use of psychology to “nudge” people during the pandemic.
It may also be useful to note that Desmet draws from Bernays, Ellul, Lasswell, Lippmann etc. that psychology academics are largely ignorant of and these figures, alongside LeBon, would be considered as pioneers in the control grid idea and its implementation.
All this to say, I think there is confusion about what is being discussed in Desmet’s theory and it is being dismissed as a hoax or junk when it could just as easily be seen as popularizing the control grid idea and legitimizing it by moving it away from “wonder weapons” and into mainstream political and cultural thought. This all strikes me as an unnecessary and distracting epistemic turf war.
Suggest you read the book to see how unaligned the positions. One is based in reality. The other appears to be a cover story. Hard to imagine that it is sincere given how divorced from reality the middle section is. However, don’t recommend you read the book. Not a good investment of your time. You might want to read Peter’s review when it comes out.
Hmm, so I would agree based on this portion of the review:
“The ensuing mechanistic worldview produced a psychology of isolation and uncertainty in society that laid the groundwork for a deep-rooted “desire for a master” and the need to focus all this “free-floating anxiety” onto an object of fear. Voilà! That is your breeding ground for the major “mass formations” of the 20th century (Hitler, Stalin) and of today (coronavirus).”
That sounds like an over the top analysis or sloppy analysis on the part of Dr. Desmet.
I want to make the claim that mass formation IS a thing, but in less over analyzed terms. In fact, Catherine, I want to use your terms.
You mentioned in the past Money and Markets that you love the Italians because they are the type of people that will go to a coffee shop or bar and start talking to each other even though they are all complete strangers to each other.
Then you contrasted that to Americans all being in their own world in their own isolated space at Starbucks or some coffee shop.
That’s it, thats my analysis that mass formation is a thing.
In other words, I am making the claim, that a human society that is sociable and more likely to come up to a stranger and say I love that sweater, is less likely to believe some creep on TV who says you must fear your neighbors, in fact, they are more likely to fear the creep on TV and just change the channel.
But the Americans in the coffee shop that do not want to talk to anyone else, even acknowledge that they are there, are the ones that will be susceptible to believing that their neighbors are a diseased bunch and they must wear PPE gear when they go out to Starbucks to not get infected by them.
So you basically described a mass formation success job in describing the Americans at the coffee shop.
One of the ways the CIA was able to destroy the Arbenz family, was not just the fake coup they staged in Guatemala, but even in exile, the CIA was still screwing around with the Arbenz family to where the daughter shot herself in the head at a restaurant in Paris and other such things like that. It’s because the Arbenz family were completely isolated, they had no community.
Americans have had no community for a long time now, a white picket fence in suburbia where people lock themselves in their home and don’t even come out to chase away the drug dealers that are starting to populate on their corner has been going on for decades now. Americans have been locking themselves down for decades now. I live in a nice clean suburb full of families with children but you would never know, because you rarely ever see the kids play outside, the African-American families and myself are the only ones that have our kids outside playing sometimes, the white-American families with children, you have to wonder, until one family admitted to me they spend hundreds of dollars on devices to keep their kids in the house all day.
Why on earth would anyone want to do that to their children?
So I do not agree with the analysis on how we came to mass formation, I just shared my own over simplified one, using the compare and contrast you did between Italians and Americans at a coffee shop.
Mass formation has been in the making in America and it started with the white picket fence suburb where the neighbors would rather spend money on a jungle gym, a pool, rather than have their kids meet at the local park or the local pool or local YMCA.
It started with the white picket fence suburbia where a SWAT team goes to bang down the door of a neighbor and absolutely no one comes out and says, hey, what are you doing in front of my neighbor Catherines door?!
Or they say, thats a shame, that guy was my friend. If he was such a friend why did you not go over there and ask the FBI or police why they are breaking down their door? Its your right, you pay property taxes in that neighborhood. It’s one thing to be afraid of goons with guns, its another to say I am just not going to get involved. The not getting involved is why we are where we are today, in my opinion.
Like a child predator who targets the child that is alone and physically isolated, the CIA loves a citizenry that self-isolates and we have been giving them what they want for decades.
One of the most innovative things the BPP did was observe the police with their guns. We could do similar but with cameras
fyi https://mattiasdesmet.substack.com/p/am-i-an-expert-in-mass-formation
Merci Ulrike.
Magnifique article !!
I think the footnote raises an important point about peer pressure. From what I’m personally seeing most people generally definitely prefer the certainty of group think. The human drive to belong and fit in with the crowd (friends. family, coworkers, groups the general population) is too much to resist for most people. Going along with the crowd reduced anxiety and increases subjective certainty, even if that certainty is objectively wrong We have been bombarded with fear porn and propaganda over Covid 19 and the plandemic by a co-opted corrupt media (and no doubt reinforced by available mind control techniques). This is reinforced by a population who increasingly blindly trust what the media tells them and who are not ready to face the anxiety of the truth regarding current events.
As an example, my own brother reported early in the plandemic (2020) that he understood that it was an operation about controlling people. He reported at the time that he couldn’t sleep at night he was so stressed, obviously given he has a son and grandchildren. He also believed nothing can be done to stop it. He is now been in complete denial for quiet some time. Now inoculated and indoctrinated. Nothing to see here. Refuses to discuss it.
In my opinion, fear is definitely playing a part, group think definitely plays a part, a need to fit in definitely plays a part coupled with a belief that nothing can be done to change things, in the minds of many. Trust the government and the media. Don’t think, its less anxiety promoting and increases fear. Psychologists love labels and theories and over complicating things. I have a basic psychology degree myself! There may be some aspects of Mass formation theory that are valid and applicable but it is never just one thing. It seems we are being attacked in many different ways using many different techniques.
Corrupt officials and elites using a co-opted media to sway public opinion and create fear and compliance. An endless stream of propaganda supporting and reinforcing the generated groupthink to the point where people are willing to risk even their own safety, their lives and the lives of others. And I’m talking now about events PRIOR TO WORLD WAR ONE as reported by the book “Hidden History – The Secret Origins of the First World War” by Gerry Docherty and Jim MacGregor”, as recommended in a recent Solari special report with Catherine. I recommend everyone reads this book. It will blow your mind, make you angry and realize we have been in trouble for a very long time, manipulated and brainwashed by elites who don’t give a damn about us. We are just dealing with the latest generation of them. The fundamental tactics used to control us have been in play since before WW1. The more things change the more they stay the same. Mass formation, a new term for covering up age old fundamental techniques of control.
There is something new on the horizon. It is called Military Grade Neurological weaponry. Please watch the lectures of Giordano and Morgan – see links at the bottom here. https://home.solari.com/mind-control-tactics-used-on-young-people-and-children/
Thanks Catherine. I will definitely review. No doubt they have many new things on the horizon but the age old, well used techniques are still well in play. And even these appear to be overwhelming many. Thanks again for the interview with I believe Thomas Meyer, Magnolia Musings, which introduced me to the “Hidden History” book about the origins of WW1. Highly enlightening. About to commence “Prolonging the Agony” by the same authors and how the elites unnecessarily extended WW1 by 3.5 years. Real history can be a great teacher and shed some light on current events.
Many great points.
Desmet leaves out WW1 completely from his historical derivation of mass formation. One of the serious omissions.
Reading now. https://www.maier-files.com/hidden-history/
Nothing Mass about how WWI was engineered.
Yes, and still they were able to manipulate a world war that convinced millions to fight and die into existence, and somehow blame Germany as solely responsible after the fact, even though evidence shows Germany was the last to mobilize and the least interested in conflict. The real instigators, the “secret elite” and their agents needed to prevent a German/Russian alliance that could have rivaled the forming Anglo-American alliance. A few managed to create quite a bit of chaos and of course quite a bit of profit and power. People went along with it, no need for fancy theories. Corrupt elites, corrupted media, propaganda, fear, group think and a far too trusting population who believed what they were told to believe. Do we really need mass formation theory to explain current events? Is this not simply overcomplicating things?
I first saw Desmit on my “late-night live” Stiftung Corona Ausschuss a while ago. He looked like an actor, not to say he is an actor, but he reminded me of a character actor who always played doctors or other professionals in made for TV movies. After I listened for a while, I had a weird feeling about his ideas, but to each his own… Soon after I was shocked at how quickly his message spread. Which gave me pause. The use of this term moved fast and is getting louder by the day.
Certain docs, two in particular, under fire for going against the grain of covid are all over ‘limited hangout’ podcasts pushing this mass formation narrative.
I find myself trying to wake my vax injured parent friends/health freedom people from this idea/term/excuse/con daily.
Its like dumping a bucket of ice water on a cat when I attempt to tell them that we didn’t do this to ourselves, that we have been & are targeted with all sorts of mind control by bad people behind the scenes etc… I guess they want to believe that no one is controlling us through our phone, food, money, media you name it.
This formation narrative makes them happy & content. They do not like to be dragged out of that soft chair & tossed into the truth.
Whatever the reason they like it, truth about this con is big pill for them to swallow but I keep handing out water & hopefully this mass formation belief will be destroyed.
Control Happens One Person At A Time discussion w/ Catherine & Ulrike on Solari helps with my talking points. This book review will be a great help ; ). So many of my friends have bought his book…sigh. Thank you Ulrike!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5lUyucohBU
This song could not be more perfect here!
haha! Love it!
John Titus shows us a clip of a very Smooth Operator in his “Presenting America’s Real Coup d’Etat”. That would be #44.
Surely it is a con. Yet there is a seed of truth in the idea that our thinking patterns have creative power. No question about that. We can think better and break out of our own limiting beliefs which will lead to more effective actions. Thank you for the in depth review. I have a big stack of books to read and no idea how to get that done. Would never have read this anyway.
Ulrike, I LOVE YOUR WORK!
Me too!
There are great materials to help us understand shared intelligence. Ulrike’s magnificent Wave Genome, Ruppert Sheldrake, Lynne McTaggert. One of the most interesting omissions in the book is no mention or credit that I remember to Sheldrake or any of the scientists I learned about through Ulrike and Lynne.