Conspiracy Thinking and Powerlessness – Mattias Desmet

„Conspiracy thinking inflates the sizableness of the perceived enemy into infinity so that in the end one can only feel powerless compared to such a giant. In this way, conspiracy thinking also embodies an aspect of self destruction.“

Mattias DesmetMattias Desmet explains how conspiracy thinking exaggerates the enemy's size, creating feelings of powerlessness and self-destruction.
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Mattias Desmet is a Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Ghent.

Conspiracy thinking leads to a feeling of powerlessness by exaggerating the enemy and thus reveals a self-destructive dynamic.


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Literature on propaganda

Quote about conspiracy thinking and powerlessness by Mattias Desmet

Mattias Desmet teaches Clinical Psychology at the Department of Psychoanalysis and Clinical Consulting at the University of Ghent. His department's research is strongly clinically and practice-oriented. He focuses on theoretical and practical aspects of psychological counseling and psychoanalysis.

Quote about monstrous conspiracies by John Edgar HooverCopyright © yoice.net – Quote Artwork
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"The individual is handicapped by coming face-to-face with a conspiracy so monstrous he cannot believe it exists. The American mind simply has not come to a realization of the evil which has been introduced into our midst. It rejects even the assumption that human creatures could espouse a philosophy which must ultimately destroy all that is good and decent." John Edgar Hoover
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Quote on psychological gain through collective anxiety by Mattias DesmetCopyright © yoice.net – Quote Artwork
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"This process yields a psychological gain. Firstly, the anxiety that previously roamed through society as a tenebrous fog is now linked to a specific cause and can be mentally controlled via the strategy put forward in the story. Secondly, 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 (for example, the Belgian government’s “team of 11 million” going to war against the coronavirus). Thirdly, 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. This brings an enormous release and satisfaction to the masses, which they will not let go of easily. Through this process..." Mattias Desmet
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Quote by Daniel Neun discussing the problematic use of the term conspiracy theorist and its psychological effectsCopyright © yoice.net – Quote Artwork
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"One need only translate the terms "conspiracy theorists" as "heretics" to know the tradition in which these terms stand and those who use them. Ultimately, it is about the accusation of apostasy from the ruling faith, which is determined by the ruling authorities and majorities. (Faith in this respect can also be translated as ruling doctrine, ideology, etc.). Thus, contrary to the subjective view of many of its users, the terms are themselves expressions of clerical and authoritarian thought structures based on subjugation as a basic psychological pattern. It is denunciatory, inquisitorial. It is directed against classical skepticism. Thus, the main purpose of these terms can only be to discredit "serious conjectures", hypotheses and facts, and thereby prevent real causal research. The term is linguistically barbaric and show an amazingly powerful psychological effect in suppressing independent thought. Where thought is undesirable, these clubs are used by default: You don't really want to...think about it. Independent thought is the enemy of government. Psychological operations, such as 9/11 or, say, the NASA "moon landing," are weapons of mass destruction whose target is independent thought." Daniel Neun
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Quote by Henry See about the impact of choosing lies on thinking and the threat of truthCopyright © yoice.net – Quote Artwork
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"When people choose to believe a lie, their thinking becomes distorted and twisted because they have to distort the facts to fit their beliefs. Their thinking is blocked. And part of them knows that they have chosen a lie, creating deep tension within them as they try to hide from themselves that they have chosen the lie. The truth then becomes a terrible threat to the false personality built on the lie, and the anger and force with which they attack is proportional to their fear of self-exposure." Henry See
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Quote by Mattias Desmet on control, fear, and totalitarianism during coronavirus crisisCopyright © yoice.net – Quote Artwork
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"The coronavirus crisis did not come out of the blue. It fits into a series of increasingly desperate and self-destructive societal responses to objects of fear: terrorists, global warming, coronavirus. Whenever a new object of fear arises in society, there is only one response and one defense in our current way of thinking: increased control. The fact that the human being can tolerate only a certain amount of control is completely overlooked. Coercive control leads to fear and fear leads to more coercive control. Just like that, society falls victim to a vicious circle that inevitably leads to totalitarianism, which means to extreme government control, eventually resulting in the radical destruction of both the psychological and physical integrity of human beings." Mattias Desmet
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Quote about conspiracy theories by G. Edward GriffinCopyright © yoice.net – Quote Artwork
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"The reason it is difficult is that we have been conditioned to laugh at conspiracy theories, and few people will risk public ridicule by advocating them. On the other hand, to endorse the accidental view is absurd. Almost all of history is an unbroken trail of one conspiracy after another. Conspiracies are the norm, not the exception." G. Edward Griffin
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