In a Mass Hysteria Bubble

Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert, offers some guidance to help you determine if you're witnessing a mass hysteria.

History is full of examples of Mass Hysterias. They happen fairly often. The cool thing about mass hysterias is that you don’t know when you are in one. But sometimes the people who are not experiencing the mass hysteria can recognize when others are experiencing one, if they know what to look for.

...A mass hysteria happens when the public gets a wrong idea about something that has strong emotional content and it triggers cognitive dissonance that is often supported by confirmation bias. In other words, people spontaneously hallucinate a whole new (and usually crazy-sounding) reality and believe they see plenty of evidence for it. The Salem Witch Trials are the best-known example of mass hysteria. The McMartin Pre-School case and the Tulip Bulb hysteria are others. The dotcom bubble probably qualifies. We might soon learn that the Russian Collusion story was mass hysteria in hindsight. The curious lack of solid evidence for Russian collusion is a red flag. But we’ll see how that plays out.

The most visible Mass Hysteria of the moment involves the idea that the United States intentionally elected a racist President. If that statement just triggered you, it might mean you are in the Mass Hysteria bubble.

Adams gives five signs of mass hysteria.

1. The trigger event for cognitive dissonance

2. The Ridiculousness of it

3. The Confirmation Bias

4. The Oversized Reaction

5. The Insult without supporting argument

The Leftists/Democrats/Never Trumpers appear to be experiencing mass hysteria.