Delusions and the madness of the masses [electronic resource] / Lawrie Reznek.
Reznek, Lawrie.
2010
HM871 .R49 2010eb
Available Online

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Title Delusions and the madness of the masses [electronic resource] / Lawrie Reznek.
Author Reznek, Lawrie.
ISBN 9781442206076 (electronic bk.)
9781442206052
Publication Details Lanham : Rowman & Littlefield, c2010.
Language English
Description 1 online resource (xxvii, 225 p.)
Call Number HM871 .R49 2010eb
Dewey Decimal Classification 302/.17
Summary We all think that we can tell the difference between someone who is mad, or whom psychiatrists call psychotic, and someone who is sane. But can we really tell who is mad and who is not? Do we really know what madness is and how it should be recognized? Have psychiatrists made a sensible distinction between the patient who believes that aliens are beaming messages to him from a foreign planet, and the religious fanatic who believes God communicates to him via automatic writing? Is there a difference between the paranoid patient who believes that the FBI is after him, and the sizeable proportion of our normal population that believe that the US government orchestrated the 9-11 bombings? Here, Reznek hopes to shed light on the delusions of the masses-those delusions that are common to everyday people living so-called ordinary lives. He provides an understanding of madness and the psychological processes that drive us to adopt delusions, arguing that it is a mistake to view only schizophrenic patients as delusional, while excluding large groups of society from such an analysis. If we abandon the idea that whole communities cannot share a delusion, we can come to a better understanding about why the world is such a dangerous place.
Bibliography, etc. Note Includes bibliographical references and index.
Access Note Access limited to authorized users.
Source of Description Description based on print version record.
Available in Other Form Delusions and the madness of the masses.
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Introduction: Delusions about delusions
The translation paradox
The incorrigibility paradox
Is everyone mad?
The community paradox
Communal madness : religious and secular
The rationality paradox
The evolution of error
Delusions are dangerous
Conclusion: The sleep of reason.

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