"I think the subject which will be of most importance politically is mass psychology. Mass psychology is, scientifically speaking, not a very advanced study, and so far its professors have not been in universities: they have been advertisers, politicians, and, above all, dictators. 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. This subject will make great strides when it is taken up by scientists under a scientific dictatorship. Anaxagoras maintained that snow is black, but no one believed him. The social psychologists of the future will have a number of classes of school children on whom they will try different methods of producing an unshakable conviction that snow is black. Various results will soon be arrived at. First, that the influence of home is obstructive. Second, that not much can be done unless indoctrination begins before the age of ten. Third, that verses set to music and repeatedly intoned are very effective. Fourth, that the opinion that snow is white must be held to show a morbid taste for eccentricity. But I anticipate. It is for future scientists to make these maxims precise and discover exactly how much it costs per head to make children believe that snow is black, and how much less it would cost to make them believe it is dark gray. Although this science will be diligently studied, it will be rigidly confined to the governing class. The populace will not be allowed to know how its convictions were generated. When the technique has been perfected, every government that has been in charge of education for a generation will be able to control its subjects securely without the need of armies or policemen. As yet there is only one country which has succeeded in creating this politician's paradise."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Ch. 2 : General Effects of Scientific Technique
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Impact_of_Science_on_Society
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
The Impact of Science on Society
16 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by The Impact of Science on Society →
Related Quotes
"The modern power of the State began in the late fifteenth century and began as a result of gunpowder. From that day t…"
"To modern educated people, it seems obvious that matters of fact are to be ascertained by observation, not by consul…"
"Some things are believed because people feel as if they must be true, and in such cases an immense weight of evidenc…"
"It is not by prayer and humility that you cause things to go as you wish, but by acquiring a knowledge of natural laws."
"Science, ever since the time of the Arabs, has had two functions: (1) to enable us to know things, and (2) to enable …"
"I mean by "oligarchy" any system in which ultimate power is confined to a section of the community: the rich to the e…"
"It is to be expected that advances in physiology and psychology will give governments much more control over individu…"
"So long as the old Liberal freedoms survive, you can engage in propaganda for whatever excites you. Such activities s…"
"There are certain things that our age needs, and certain things that it should avoid. It needs compassion and a wish …"
"What I do want to stress is that the kind of lethargic despair which is now not uncommon, is irrational. Mankind is i…"