On Mass Hysteria [1951]

This chapter includes some general discussion of mass hysteria and the herd psychology by which he believed it was stoked. Bertrand Russell also alluded to hysterical episodes from the recent past of Europe and Japan, together with a classic illustration of irrationality from Restoration England. Mass hysteria is a phenomenon not confined to human beings; it may be seen in any gregarious species. The essence of mass hysteria is an emotion of mingled hate and fear shared by a herd and reaching a pitch at which rational action to ward off the danger that is feared, ceases to be possible. The Gadarene Swine, which rushed down a steep place to the sea and were all drowned, may serve as a type of this kind of action. Perhaps the most serious damage which is being done by the present witch-hunt to the interests of the United States and of the free world in general, is in the sphere of scientific research.