The True Believer: ~~~Mass Movements

HighlandFP · 27-03-2008, 08:16 AM

The True Believer: Thoughts On The Nature Of Mass Movements
The True Believer: Information and Much More from Answers.com

Still to read this book but looks promising -
Is we a mass movement against a mass movement

ISBN 0-06-050591-5 was Eric Hoffer's first and most successful book, published in 1951. It discusses the psychological causes of fanaticism.

Philosophy Now
The main point Hoffer stresses in his book is that, for the ‘true believer’ (someone so committed to a cause that he or she is willing to unthinkingly die for it) ideologies are interchangeable. It is the frustrations of life which lead the believers to join a cause that gives meaning to their own existences, and the more frustrated they feel, the more attracted they are to extreme revolutionary solutions to their problems. Such frustrations can be the basis for positive social change, but usually mass movements have less beneficial effects. The message that self-sacrifice is needed for the good of a cause can often justify the most heinous of endeavors, and followers are treated as interchangeable cogs in a machine rather than as flesh-and-blood humans. Abstractions and atrocities often go hand-in-hand.

Tom Wilde · 30-03-2008, 11:08 AM

Yes, interesting. Another quote from the Philosophy Now article you've linked above:

Quote:

How then does one combat True Believers? Can one make a love of democracy and the advocacy of individualism a holy cause itself? "Though hatred is a convenient instrument for mobilizing a community for defense," Hoffer warns, "it does not, in the long run, come cheap. We pay for it by losing all or many of the values we have set out to defend." The best way to fight is to encourage individualism, contrary thinking and a disinclination to follow blindly the teachings of any leaders, no matter how seemingly benign.

HighlandFP · 30-03-2008, 02:49 PM

Philosophy Now

I have put a request to the library for:
he True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements was written by Eric Hoffer (1902-1983),

and will read you stories from it. Meanwhile content yourself with
Mass Movements Information

Tom Wilde · 30-03-2008, 06:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HighlandFP

and will read you stories from it. Meanwhile content yourself with
Mass Movements Information

Quote:

Mass movement or mass wasting is movements of masses of bodies of soil, bed rock, rock debris, soil, or mud which usually occur along steep-sided hills and mountains because of the pull of gravity. This slipping of large amounts of rock and soil is seen in landslides, mud slides, and avalanches.

Nice one!

27-03-2008, 08:16 AM	#1 (permalink)
HighlandFP Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Ross-shire Highlands SCOTLAND Posts: 585 Party: Other	The True Believer: ~~~Mass Movements The True Believer: Thoughts On The Nature Of Mass Movements The True Believer: Information and Much More from Answers.com Still to read this book but looks promising - Is we a mass movement against a mass movement ISBN 0-06-050591-5 was Eric Hoffer's first and most successful book, published in 1951. It discusses the psychological causes of fanaticism. Philosophy Now The main point Hoffer stresses in his book is that, for the ‘true believer’ (someone so committed to a cause that he or she is willing to unthinkingly die for it) ideologies are interchangeable. It is the frustrations of life which lead the believers to join a cause that gives meaning to their own existences, and the more frustrated they feel, the more attracted they are to extreme revolutionary solutions to their problems. Such frustrations can be the basis for positive social change, but usually mass movements have less beneficial effects. The message that self-sacrifice is needed for the good of a cause can often justify the most heinous of endeavors, and followers are treated as interchangeable cogs in a machine rather than as flesh-and-blood humans. Abstractions and atrocities often go hand-in-hand. __________________ WARNING: By reading or downloading this post you may be committing an offence under some or all of these Terrorism Acts. http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/securit...m-and-the-law/ EU = Ein Volk ~ Ein Reich.

30-03-2008, 02:49 PM	#3 (permalink)
HighlandFP Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Ross-shire Highlands SCOTLAND Posts: 585 Party: Other	Philosophy Now I have put a request to the library for: he True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements was written by Eric Hoffer (1902-1983), and will read you stories from it. Meanwhile content yourself with Mass Movements Information __________________ WARNING: By reading or downloading this post you may be committing an offence under some or all of these Terrorism Acts. http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/securit...m-and-the-law/ EU = Ein Volk ~ Ein Reich.

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