Ponerology
 Ponerology  (idea, hysteria, psychopathy)   | |
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| Theory that hysteria in society results in leaders with personality disorders (e.g. psychopathy) coming to power |
In theology, ponerology is the study of evil. Major subdivisions of the study are the nature of evil, the origin of evil, and evil in relation to the Divine Government.
Political ponerology
Political ponerology is a concept popularized by Polish psychiatrist Andrzej Łobaczewski: he advocated using the fields of psychology, sociology, philosophy, and history to account for such phenomena as aggressive war, ethnic cleansing, genocide, and despotism. In his argument, societies fluctuate between "happy times" and "unhappy times":[1]
National hysteria
During happy times the privileged classes enjoy prosperity and suppress advanced psychological knowledge of psychopathological influence in the corridors of power. Though happy, these times are not necessarily morally advanced as the privileged classes' prosperity or happiness may be premised on the oppression or exploitation of others. To block out such inconvenient truths (the voice of conscience) the privileged use 'conversive thinking', which means changing the outcome of the reasoning process to a more convenient outcome. This is accompanied by a rise in egotism and emotionalism. This growing 'hysteria' of the privileged classes (emotionalism, egotism and conversive thinking) spreads across society over several generations. National hysteria is a natural cycle and forms a sine-wave almost 200 years long. Hysteria causes people to lose the ability to differentiate between psychologically healthy and pathological individuals. In this environment the behavior of 'characteropaths', or individuals with slight brain tissue damage (e.g. from toxic substances, viruses, difficult births, pathological parenting) is accepted as normal and this acts as a gateway to normalizing the behavior of those with genetic deviations, including psychopathy. Finally, near the point of maximum hysteria society becomes polarized and paralyzed and the most pathologically egotistical of all 'spellbinders' can come to power. The spellbinder worsens the psychological health of those under his or her influence. This may be the beginning of a pathocracy (though not inevitable) in which individuals with biologically based psychopathology, including personality disorders (especially psychopathy) occupy positions of power and influence.
Related Document
| Title | Type | Publication date | Author(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Document:What does it mean to be "ponerized" | blog post | 11 April 2007 | Henry See | About American society and the war in Iraq |
