Collective Delusion
Dear Editor,
I would like to remind us all of an old children’s story that captures the current abysmal state of cultural affairs involving what I will call “collective delusion.” This is the phenomenon in which a major influential group insists that some crazy idea is in fact reality, and people are afraid to speak out and say otherwise lest they be ostracized. Examples of such ideas include: (1) the concept that human gender is so fluid that a man can get pregnant, and even a candidate for Supreme Court Justice will not presume to say what a woman is; (2) the U.S. can and needs to spend hundreds of billions to avert a world climate change disaster; (3) either major political party can field a reasonable secondterm presidential candidate in 2024; (4) by 2035, this nation will no longer need to produce gasoline-powered cars; (5) the Chinese government can establish a favorable human rights credential by a donation of $800,000 to the UN Office of Human Rights; (6) Social Security and Medicare can continue indefinitely without any adjustments whatsoever; (7) COVID-19 originated from bats in a marketplace rather than from a lab leak; (8) add your own favorite bizarre unreality here.
The story, Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Emperor’s New Clothes” (1837), is well summarized in its Wikipedia article quoted here: Two swindlers arrive at the capital city of an emperor who spends lavishly on clothing at the expense of state matters. Posing as weavers, they offer to supply him with magnificent clothes that are invisible to those who are stupid or incompetent. The emperor hires them, and they set up looms and go to work. A succession of officials, and then the emperor himself, visit them to check their progress. Each sees that the looms are empty but pretends otherwise to avoid being thought a fool. Finally, the weavers report that the emperor’s suit is finished. They mime dressing him and he sets off in a procession before the whole city. The townsfolk uncomfortably go along with the pretense, not wanting to appear inept or stupid, until a child blurts out that the emperor is wearing nothing at all. The people then realize that everyone has been fooled. Although startled, the emperor continues the procession, walking more proudly than ever.
Apparently, there are more than two swindlers leveraging collective delusion nowadays.