Deindividuation - the process of losing oneself in the mass, and thus forsaking one's own values and beliefs to pursue extreme behaviors, has played a definite role in history and how it has evolved. The examples throughout this blog (I hope) have partly proven this point.
There are many more instances that when analyzed will reveal the deindividuation effect, but I'll leave it to your discretion.
Because after all, history is awesome. And it always redirects itself.
Thursday, May 21, 2015
How the US Reacted
During the 1990s, terrorism had not been a focus of most Americans, let alone a concern to the political regime. Several bombings happened during the decade, but none resonated as an immediate threat that needed to be addressed. Even warnings of a possible attack in February 2001 and as late as August 6, 2001 were largely ignored.
Until September 9, 2001.
The event shook the world, and the inexplicable mental strength to fly commercial planes filled with civilians into buildings, killing thousands more altered completely the mindset of Americans. A war on terrorism was declared right away, and it led to the longest war in US history - the war in Afghanistan; it also indirectly led to the Iraq war.
The fear of terrorism triggered a burst of xenophobia among American citizens, and immigration procedure since then has seen changes, mostly to strengthen the security measures expected to reduce the chance of admitting a terrorist.
Terrorism is now a significant focus of the US government. Its fearful power can be attributed to the ability of terrorist groups to train surprisingly obedient extremists, which can be traced back to their ability to create and amplify the deindividuation effect.
Until September 9, 2001.
The event shook the world, and the inexplicable mental strength to fly commercial planes filled with civilians into buildings, killing thousands more altered completely the mindset of Americans. A war on terrorism was declared right away, and it led to the longest war in US history - the war in Afghanistan; it also indirectly led to the Iraq war.
The fear of terrorism triggered a burst of xenophobia among American citizens, and immigration procedure since then has seen changes, mostly to strengthen the security measures expected to reduce the chance of admitting a terrorist.
Terrorism is now a significant focus of the US government. Its fearful power can be attributed to the ability of terrorist groups to train surprisingly obedient extremists, which can be traced back to their ability to create and amplify the deindividuation effect.
Do You Think You Know Al-Qaeda?
Have you ever wondered how Al-Qaeda members are chosen?
Here's what an ACTUAL application to join Al-Qaeda looks like:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/al-qaeda/11618950/Al-Qaeda-recruitment-form-Tell-us-your-hobbies-skills-and-thoughts-on-suicide-missions.html
A documentary on Al-Qaeda:
The first TV interview with Osama Bin Laden:
Terrorist Groups Aced the Deindividuation Test
Terrorism is broadly defined by the United States Department of Defense as "the calculated use of unlawful violence or threat of unlawful
violence to inculcate fear; intended to coerce or to intimidate
governments or societies in the pursuit of goals that are generally
political, religious, or ideological.”
Terrorism in the US is a formidable threat, hovering real and large over the social security of the population and political order within the government. Groups such as Al-Qaeda have employed the tactic of utilizing the deindividuation effect to push their members past their self-imposed limits of behaviors.
Al-Qaeda is notorious for suicidal attacks on civilian and military targets, much often through bombing, to create completely pure Muslim countries, cut off from the rest of the world - who are considered impurity. Their most famous attack is on the World Trade Center in New York on September 9, 2001, otherwise known as the 9/11 event.
Al-Qaeda establish training camps in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq or Sudan, where they utilize the method of alienation. The trainees are forced in interact within an enclosed area and assume a group identity, whose supreme leader is always to be obeyed. The idea that the US was an enemy, and martyrdom was the most prestigious way to "carry out God's will" against America is spoon-fed to the members day after day, until they embrace that ideology as their own.
The training creates the foundation for the effect of deindividuation to take place, and thus explains the numerous suicidal bombings whose drive would normally exceed the understanding of a standard citizen.
Terrorism in the US is a formidable threat, hovering real and large over the social security of the population and political order within the government. Groups such as Al-Qaeda have employed the tactic of utilizing the deindividuation effect to push their members past their self-imposed limits of behaviors.
Al-Qaeda is notorious for suicidal attacks on civilian and military targets, much often through bombing, to create completely pure Muslim countries, cut off from the rest of the world - who are considered impurity. Their most famous attack is on the World Trade Center in New York on September 9, 2001, otherwise known as the 9/11 event.
Al-Qaeda establish training camps in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq or Sudan, where they utilize the method of alienation. The trainees are forced in interact within an enclosed area and assume a group identity, whose supreme leader is always to be obeyed. The idea that the US was an enemy, and martyrdom was the most prestigious way to "carry out God's will" against America is spoon-fed to the members day after day, until they embrace that ideology as their own.
The training creates the foundation for the effect of deindividuation to take place, and thus explains the numerous suicidal bombings whose drive would normally exceed the understanding of a standard citizen.
What the Nazis Meant to the US History
The rise to such immense power of the Nazis under the sole leadership of a supreme leader led to changes in the US policies and overall redirected the flow of history.
At the onset of war, with the Great Depression still looming behind their shoulders, US citizens felt an intensified sense of isolationism and xenophobia. The 1924 Immigration Law which obstructed immigrants from obtaining entry visas persisted strongly in spite of the growing number of killings in Europe.
In 1940, the US took an extra controversial step in its foreign policies by ordering US consuls to prolong visa processes, further restricting the flow of refugees fleeing from the Nazi party. This policy will continue to be a topic of much discussion, as it correlated directly with the fate of a human race. However, from 1933, when the Nazi party rose to power, to 1945, when WWII officially ended, around 200,000 Jews found refuge in the United States.
Among those refugees was Albert Einstein, whose enormous intellectuality has never failed to astonish the world. And it was because of this man that the Manhattan Project was started, eventually leading to the creation of the first atomic bombs in history. Their incredible destructive power, later on used by the US on Japan, helped bring an end to the deadliest and costliest war in human history.
Here's the source if you're not tired of reading yet!
At the onset of war, with the Great Depression still looming behind their shoulders, US citizens felt an intensified sense of isolationism and xenophobia. The 1924 Immigration Law which obstructed immigrants from obtaining entry visas persisted strongly in spite of the growing number of killings in Europe.
In 1940, the US took an extra controversial step in its foreign policies by ordering US consuls to prolong visa processes, further restricting the flow of refugees fleeing from the Nazi party. This policy will continue to be a topic of much discussion, as it correlated directly with the fate of a human race. However, from 1933, when the Nazi party rose to power, to 1945, when WWII officially ended, around 200,000 Jews found refuge in the United States.
Among those refugees was Albert Einstein, whose enormous intellectuality has never failed to astonish the world. And it was because of this man that the Manhattan Project was started, eventually leading to the creation of the first atomic bombs in history. Their incredible destructive power, later on used by the US on Japan, helped bring an end to the deadliest and costliest war in human history.
Here's the source if you're not tired of reading yet!
Wednesday, May 20, 2015
Did you know this about the Nazis yet?
Women in Nazi Germany
Hitler's Speeches (with English subtitles)
Did the Nazi Party Pass the Deindividuation Test As Well?
We all know they did. And with flying colors too.
The Nazi Party, or the National Socialist German Workers' Party, is a political party established in 1919 on the foundation of National Socialism. The party amounted to unrivaled power fourteen years later under the leadership of Adolf Hitler. It promoted extreme nationalism, German pride and the calamitous ideology of antisemitism, which resulted in the death of approximately 6 million European Jews.
What stood out was that the tremendous figure of 6 million was not achieved through any weapon of mass destruction. It was simply people killing people in ways so horrific history would never again be the same. The SS, German government and military officials clearly played a significant role in the Holocaust, but "ordinary" people like civil servants, lawyers, doctors, judges and even railroad workers participated in the horrendous crime as well.
How did Hitler make them his killing machines?
The answer can be found looking through the lens of the deindividuation effect, with ample consideration to the fact that it was artificially created by only one man - the notorious Adolf Hitler.
Hitler utilized the persuasion method to produce the deindividuation effect. He brought the people together through action-motivating speeches that awoke the German pride inside each of them. He painted a hideous pictures of the "enemy" - the countries that signed the Treaty of Versailles and forced Germany to assume massive responsibility and reparations for WWI, whose action Hitler called unjustifiable maltreatment. He convinced the German population that as Germans, they were the mistreated underdogs whose power shall rise once again from the remnants. Using his superb oratorical skills, Hitler created a common enemy and provoked a group pride and identity, or to quote Hitler himself, "the great feeling of comradeship of being part of the group." His people now share his values, and injecting the idea of antisemitism now seemed too simple a task. His order of killing was further backed up by the effect of deindividuation:
Anonymity: As the Nazi party became the only political party in Germany, Germans all belonged to one large group, which provided a sense of security because they would not be found out. The effect was more pronounced among the SS: they shared the same uniforms, wore the same hair cut and operated under direct command from the same leader.
Diffused responsibility: This aspect derived from the anonymity created from being in a group. No specific individual was responsible for the killing, which made the job drastically easier.
Group size: All right, this one we get it. The whole nation was involved.
Source
Here's another source
The Nazi Party, or the National Socialist German Workers' Party, is a political party established in 1919 on the foundation of National Socialism. The party amounted to unrivaled power fourteen years later under the leadership of Adolf Hitler. It promoted extreme nationalism, German pride and the calamitous ideology of antisemitism, which resulted in the death of approximately 6 million European Jews.
What stood out was that the tremendous figure of 6 million was not achieved through any weapon of mass destruction. It was simply people killing people in ways so horrific history would never again be the same. The SS, German government and military officials clearly played a significant role in the Holocaust, but "ordinary" people like civil servants, lawyers, doctors, judges and even railroad workers participated in the horrendous crime as well.
How did Hitler make them his killing machines?
The answer can be found looking through the lens of the deindividuation effect, with ample consideration to the fact that it was artificially created by only one man - the notorious Adolf Hitler.
Hitler utilized the persuasion method to produce the deindividuation effect. He brought the people together through action-motivating speeches that awoke the German pride inside each of them. He painted a hideous pictures of the "enemy" - the countries that signed the Treaty of Versailles and forced Germany to assume massive responsibility and reparations for WWI, whose action Hitler called unjustifiable maltreatment. He convinced the German population that as Germans, they were the mistreated underdogs whose power shall rise once again from the remnants. Using his superb oratorical skills, Hitler created a common enemy and provoked a group pride and identity, or to quote Hitler himself, "the great feeling of comradeship of being part of the group." His people now share his values, and injecting the idea of antisemitism now seemed too simple a task. His order of killing was further backed up by the effect of deindividuation:
Anonymity: As the Nazi party became the only political party in Germany, Germans all belonged to one large group, which provided a sense of security because they would not be found out. The effect was more pronounced among the SS: they shared the same uniforms, wore the same hair cut and operated under direct command from the same leader.
Diffused responsibility: This aspect derived from the anonymity created from being in a group. No specific individual was responsible for the killing, which made the job drastically easier.
Group size: All right, this one we get it. The whole nation was involved.
Source
Here's another source
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