More On Mass Hysteria

[davidbanner99@]

Those I spoke with told me they had officially been diagnosed with Covid. Symptoms were flu-like with loss of taste and smell. My point is that surely tens of thousands of diagnosed people were not at death's door but experienced symptoms not unlike in Sri Lanka.

"In addition to intestinal problems and fits of coughing, some children (and a handful of teachers) experienced rashes and headaches. In the small town of Gampola alone, more than 1,000 people were admitted to local hospitals. The area experienced widespread panic as the mysterious illness seemed to spread to other schools and centers of population. No medical cause could be found and the "illness" vanished as quickly as it had appeared. Not finding any other explanation, medical professionals concluded that those afflicted had been the victims of some type of mass hysteria strong enough to produce observable physical symptoms. "

[davidbanner99@]

"What we clearly have is a pandemic of self-absorption, part and parcel to mass psychogenic illness. At some point hopefully we will feel the shame of the Salem witch hunters and all those who aided and abetted them, those in the courts who squirmed and screamed every time a suspect witch was questioned. Maybe we’ll shun the current panic-mongers, as those people were later shunned. But for now it’s full-bore hysteria. And there’s no end in sight. It’s more for that reason that, indeed, 2020 has been a very bad year."
Michael Fumento is a lawyer, author, and journalist who has been writing on epidemic hysterias for 35 years.

[Richard@DecisionSkills]

Michael Fumento is a lawyer, author, and journalist who has been writing on epidemic hysterias for 35 years.

And?

As stated previously when the only tool you ever use is a hammer, every problem begins to look like a nail. You study mental disorders so every problem you begin trying to force under this lens. I suspect Fumento has the same issue. He writes for 35 years on the topic so he sees hysteria around every corner.

It is like you are an astrologist. Having studied the stars for years you read the stars and determine the pandemic is because the stars are misaligned. When your logic is questioned, the proof you provide is by referring to another astrologist with 35 years and say, "See, this astrologer agrees with me! It is proof!"

Look, another way to look at the discussion is to say either (1) I am delusional or (2) you are delusional. One of the two of us is delusional. Hmm, I wonder how we might determine which one of us is delusional?

I submit that my "delusion" of an actual pandemic is supported by my landing in China early Feb. last year and having military checkpoints, people dressed in PPE screening me, and subsequent quarantine. I trust that when multiple companies across the globe say they have conducted clinical trials, which would involve double-blind studies, that it isn't some big well-coordinated conspiracy that would require tens of thousands of people involved in the cover up. I don't trust the media, yet I can comfortably trust that when thousands of journalists and average citizens provide millions of hours of video and photos documenting the illness, including sickness and death of loved ones in only a few days, I can comfortably dismiss "mass hysteria" as the cause.

For your "delusion" to be true you have to explain away all of this evidence by saying, "My neighbors are keeping socially distanced and buying up supplies, there has been mass hysteria before, e.g. Sri Lanka, I've read a lot of Russian papers, and there is this guy that agrees with me that has been writing on the topic for 35 years." For your version of events to be true you have to believe in some giant conspiracy coordinated between 180 countries, nurses and doctors operating in ICU's watching people choke to death as they place them on ventilators, and tens of thousands of people from multiple countries participating in clinical trials of vaccines.

Anyway, I guess we can each continue to enjoy our delusions.

[davidbanner99@]

Michael Fumento is a lawyer, author, and journalist who has been writing on epidemic hysterias for 35 years.

And?

As stated previously when the only tool you ever use is a hammer, every problem begins to look like a nail. You study mental disorders so every problem you begin trying to force under this lens. I suspect Fumento has the same issue. He writes for 35 years on the topic so he sees hysteria around every corner.

It is like you are an astrologist. Having studied the stars for years you read the stars and determine the pandemic is because the stars are misaligned. When your logic is questioned, the proof you provide is by referring to another astrologist with 35 years and say, "See, this astrologer agrees with me! It is proof!"

Look, another way to look at the discussion is to say either (1) I am delusional or (2) you are delusional. One of the two of us is delusional. Hmm, I wonder how we might determine which one of us is delusional?

I submit that my "delusion" of an actual pandemic is supported by my landing in China early Feb. last year and having military checkpoints, people dressed in PPE screening me, and subsequent quarantine. I trust that when multiple companies across the globe say they have conducted clinical trials, which would involve double-blind studies, that it isn't some big well-coordinated conspiracy that would require tens of thousands of people involved in the cover up. I don't trust the media, yet I can comfortably trust that when thousands of journalists and average citizens provide millions of hours of video and photos documenting the illness, including sickness and death of loved ones in only a few days, I can comfortably dismiss "mass hysteria" as the cause.

For your "delusion" to be true you have to explain away all of this evidence by saying, "My neighbors are keeping socially distanced and buying up supplies, there has been mass hysteria before, e.g. Sri Lanka, I've read a lot of Russian papers, and there is this guy that agrees with me that has been writing on the topic for 35 years." For your version of events to be true you have to believe in some giant conspiracy coordinated between 180 countries, nurses and doctors operating in ICU's watching people choke to death as they place them on ventilators, and tens of thousands of people from multiple countries participating in clinical trials of vaccines.

Anyway, I guess we can each continue to enjoy our delusions.

I don't think you are making any rational case. Personally I doubt China is to blame. I even suspect most Americans are insecure as the world has changed dramatically since the 1990s. I don't believe Covid is a conspiracy theory. I think it's a new virus that initially was said to pose a risk to elderly people with serious comorbid health issues. Now we are told it's a doomsday threat. And yet, those I spoke to who were diagnosed with it (as stated) were clearly anxious and appeared to have had mild symptoms. Tens of thousands of cases are probably psychosomatic. And it's clear the stats are being exaggerated in the same way witches were promoted in mediaeval times. There's a good case to argue much of the hysteria we see thrives in societies where science is barely taught in the classroom.

[Richard@DecisionSkills]

I don't think you are making any rational case.

Fair enough. You are certainly welcome to that opinion.

Equally, I don't think you are making a rational case. Like many of your threads, you make a definitive claim and when asked to support the claim you change the topic.

For example:

There is no proof it came from China

Really? Zero proof? None. Not a hint of evidence that it came from China?

[littlebrowndragon]

Even if we take the view the virus is real and that the surrounding hysteria is just a reaction to a severe threat, why don't those presumably in authority urge people to keep calm? When did hysteria and negativity ever solve a crisis.

The answer is straightforward. Those in authority are not interested in solving a crisis. They are corrupt, they are about governing i.e. controlling, the population. People who are frightened are much easier to control than people who are calm. Therefore, those in power use fear to control. It's much easier to place people under a form of house arrest, to severely restrict their movements and control their behaviour, with the use of fear. Further, those in authority, being corrupt, are getting off on being able to control the population of the country. They are addicted to power and, like all addicts, need bigger and bigger doses of their drug of choice. After getting high on covid, what’s next? Playing god?

Actually, the present situation reminds me of the film "I, Robot" where the supercomputer Vikki decides, just like modern governments have done, that for their own safety, to protect people from themselves, people should be confined to their homes. The population fought and destroyed the robots and their controller, Vikki, and, of course, conditions returned to normal. Not so in the real world.

Unfortunately, the government’s response is storing up catastrophic problems for the future. In the first place, prolonged periods of stress will weaken people and make them even more susceptible to any virus. This so-called more infectious strain of covid may simply seem more infectious, not because it is a more dangerous form of the virus, but because after nearly a year of extraordinary stress levels, the population is becoming weaker and more susceptible.

The government/scientists are practicing prevention, not cure. Prevention means that people must learn to lead ever more solitary, isolated lives, live in bubbles, to avoid catching viruses etc. Prevention destroys people’s immune systems. At what point does the quality of life in such an existence become so appallingly bad that it is not worth living anymore? It is certainly getting to the stage that I, as an older person, a person who remembers a much freer, healthier world, would not wish to live in such a world as we are heading for. I would rather die.

Cure, on the other hand, involves exposing people to diseases, and strengthens their immune systems. It makes people more resistant to disease, in other words. Quality of life is hugely improved. Hope returns. People will want to live.

I am not sure how much of the virus people fear so much has a purely biological cause. Initially it was thought to pose a risk to those who had serious comorbid health issues. Now, over time, this has been inflated to "deadly". You could get run over by a bus and they'd now call it Covid related

I totally agree that people’s reaction to the virus is out of all proportion to its danger level. This is fear talking, aided and abetted by government. People’s emotions are so out of control that they have lost touch with reality. On the other hand, people are in love with their emotions. Calming down is easier said than done when the whole world is going the other way, but the rewards are more than worth the effort.

[littlebrowndragon]

In the US the underlying cause driving fear is media and politicians..

No, they are not the underlying cause. Media and politicians, and scientists, are certainly driving fear. The cause: they drive fear because they are corrupt and get off on scaring the living daylights out of people.

I still don't see evidence of mass hysteria or delusion. It is perfectly rational for people to hear about a deadly virus that is spreading and go out and buy up items off the shelves. This happens with hurricanes and snowstorms every season and I don't see anyone claiming hysteria because people rush out to stock up on things they think they might need.

I'm sorry to say that I disagree with you here too. People's action have long since stopped being governed by reason. People are driven purely by their emotions, not by reason. I admit here to having been very tempted myself to panic-buy. I resisted. I refuse to give in to panic.

Again, I'm not saying people are not being overly cautious. But I can't blame them. I think the fear-mongering caused by the media and politicians is downright criminal.

I couldn't agree more.

[davidbanner99@]

I agree about immunity. I have a sense of foreboding when people relate with glee they have had no colds this year. They somehow think government pseudo scientists have one-up on Mother Nature. Isolate yourself and hide from bacteria and you can have your cake and eat it. No colds any more. Terrific. Yet Nature doesn't work like that. As H.G.Wells clarified in War Of The Worlds we earned our right to occupy the earth by millions of deaths. It's evolution. Some of us may die and some may adapt. I nearly died myself from pneumonia decades ago but luckily I pulled through. My aunt's first husband did not. A simple cold that developed into pneumonia killed him. People need to face viruses and beat them through their own immunity. Very vulnerable and older people can be protected as the priority. Covid doesn't worry me personally but I have no axe to grind if some people choose to protect themselves.
Contrary to what Richard claimed I don't attribute the entire virus to mass hysteria. It seems it's a new strain of flu that can put those with comorbid health disorders at risk. Not children or fit and healthy people, however. Huge percentages of Covid sufferers are likewise suffering mass hysteria and hypochondria. They are so fearful they imagine they have the virus. Indeed, they manifest somatic symptoms that, in turn, are diagnosed by equally hysterical doctors. Did you know the chemists outlets in my area put chairs against the entrance door and a huge sign: "If you have Covid symptoms, don't enter!"
The whole situation borders on absurdity