Mass Psychology and Education

Original Post in Another of My Blogs From April 10, 2013

During tonight’s episode of “Down the Rabbit Hole“, once again I was reminded about Bertrand Russell. Throughout college and graduate school many of my professors lauded the work of Russell. Searching for popular quotes brings up many things he said that do not shed light on his nefarious true self. Even though I have known this I have neglected to give the subject proper time and attention.

[EDIT – Here is the link to the episode: 4-10-2013: http://unboundradio.com/down-the-rabbit-hole-1399/ ]

This post is my own effort toward understanding more of what our “beloved” philosophers were really saying, what they stood for and the organizations with which they may have belonged that continue to influence every aspect of the Matrix, today: The Military-Academic-Entertainment-Industrial-Complex.

“I think the subject which will be of most importance politically is mass psychology.”

http://rinf.com/alt-news/contributions/mass-psychology-and-education/2371/

“I think the subject which will be of most importance politically is mass psychology. Mass psychology is, scientifically speaking, not a very advanced study… This study is immensely useful to practical men, whether they wish to become rich or to acquire the government. It is, of course, as a science, founded upon individual psychology, but hitherto it has employed rule-of-thumb methods which were based upon a kind of intuitive common sense. Its importance has been enormously increased by the growth of modern methods of propaganda. Of these the most influential is what is called ‘education’. Religion plays a part, though a diminishing one; the Press, the cinema and the radio play an increasing part.

What is essential in mass psychology is the art of persuasion. If you compare a speech of Hitler’s with a speech of (say) Edmund Burke, you will see what strides have been made in the art since the eighteenth century. What went wrong formerly was that people had read in books that man is a rational animal, and framed their arguments on this hypothesis. We now know that limelight and a brass band do more to persuade than can be done by the most elegant train of syllogisms. It may be hoped that in time anybody will be able to persuade anybody of anything if he can catch the patient young and is provided by the State with money and equipment.

“Diet, injections, and injunctions will combine, from a very early age, to produce the sort of character and the sort of beliefs that the authorities consider desirable, and any serious criticism will become psychologically impossible.” – Bertrand Russell: The Impact of Science on Society

Mass Psychology and Education

http://rinf.com/alt-news/contributions/mass-psychology-and-education/2371/

Brent Jessop

“For some reason which I have failed to understand, many people like the system [scientific totalitarianism] when it is Russian but disliked the very same system when it was German. I am compelled to think that this is due to the power of labels; these people like whatever is labelled ‘Left’ without examining whether the label has any justification.”- Bertrand Russell, 1952 (p56)

What exactly is the purpose of education? Does the government want to teach young people how to think and reason for themselves or is it a form of mass psychology aimed at propagandising the young? These questions are examined through Bertrand Russell’s 1952 book entitled The Impact of Science on Society*.

Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell (1872-1970) was a renowned British philosopher and mathematician who was an adamant internationalist and worked extensively on the education of young children. He was the founder of the Pugwash movement which used the spectre of Cold War nuclear annihilation to push for world government. Among many other prizes, Russell was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1950 and UNESCO’s (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) Kalinga prize in 1957.

Part 1 of this series examines the impact of “scientific technique” on society. The second part explores Bertrand Russell’s views on the stability of a worldwide scientific society. Part 3 deals with population control and the scientific breeding of humans.