Mass Hysteria (also referred to by Scott Adams as “Mass Delusion” or “Mass Hallucination”) is a psychological phenomenon where a large group of people adopts a shared, demonstrably false belief. In Adams’ persuasion-filter, mass hysteria is not a rare medical anomaly but a common feature of modern political discourse, driven by high emotional states and the brain’s tendency to prioritize narrative consistency over factual accuracy.
The Mechanism of Hysteria
Adams posits that “hallucinations are viral—that’s what causes a hysteria.” Unlike a single person experiencing a private delusion, mass hysteria is fueled by emotional contagion. When a group is subjected to high levels of fear or anger—often via media cycles—their cognitive centers effectively shut down, and they begin to “filter” reality to match their emotional state.
This process is deeply tied to cognitive-dissonance. When individuals encounter facts that contradict their deeply held identity or worldview, the brain generates a hallucination to bridge the gap. As Adams observes, “in their minds they’re erasing the new information at the same rate that is coming in.” This creates a self-sustaining loop where no amount of evidence can break the delusion because the evidence itself is reinterpreted or “erased” by the observer.
Recognition and “Tells”
To an outside observer, mass hysteria is recognizable through several “tells”:
- Emotional Intensity: The belief is held with a fervor that is disproportionate to the available evidence.
- Unfalsifiability: No matter what happens, the believer finds a way to incorporate the event into their narrative.
- The Elephant Rule: Adams often uses a simple test for reality: “if you have one person in the room out of three who can’t see the elephant there’s probably no elephants.” In a hysteria, a large group claims to see an “elephant” (a crime, a conspiracy, or a threat) that has no physical footprint.
Historical and Modern Examples
While historical examples include the Salem witch trials or the “Satanic Panic” of the 1980s, Adams primarily applies this framework to modern political events. He famously identified the Russian Collusion narrative as a primary example of mass hysteria, noting that “the press has just taken a really hard body blow from the whole Trump collusion fiasco.”
In Adams’ view, major media outlets often become the primary vectors for these delusions. He suggests that “CNN is operating from the same false memory as the people they’re talking to—that it’s not a lie, it’s actually they think it happened.” This leads to situations where journalists might “read the Mueller report [and find] it is full of damning evidence of all the crimes he didn’t commit.”
False Memory and Perception
A core tenet of Adams’ philosophy is that “False memories are the texture of our entire existence.” He argues that “the vast majority of your memories are not real; they’re approximates.” Because human memory is so malleable, mass hysteria can rewrite a group’s history in real-time. This results in two-movies-on-one-screen, where two different groups look at the exact same set of facts but perceive two entirely different realities.
Ultimately, Adams suggests that the only way to avoid mass hysteria is to maintain an awareness of one’s own susceptibility to “programming” and to prioritize the observation of outcomes over the consumption of narratives.