Public delusion and madness
 |
Description
Book Introduction
This book looks back on the historical tragicomedies brought about by irrational human psychology or groupthink, and examines their causes, background, and consequences.
It meticulously collects and realistically reconstructs examples of errors and madness that people have collectively fallen into throughout history, presenting them in a realistic way.
This book is an abridged version of Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, written by British journalist Charles Mackay and first published in 1841.
It meticulously collects and realistically reconstructs examples of errors and madness that people have collectively fallen into throughout history, presenting them in a realistic way.
This book is an abridged version of Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, written by British journalist Charles Mackay and first published in 1841.
index
preface
Chapter 1: The Mississippi Plan
John Law's Youth / John Law's Induction of the Issuance of Paper Money in France / The Speculative Mania Aroused by the Mississippi Plan / The Collapse of the Speculative Bubble / John Law's Departure from France
Chapter 2: South Sea Bubbles
The establishment of the South Sea Company and its skyrocketing stock price / The proliferation of bubble companies / The collapse of the South Sea Company / Public outrage and Parliament's response
Chapter 3: Tulip Mania
The introduction of tulips into Europe / The beginning of the tulip speculation / The end of the speculation
Chapter 4 Alchemy
The Origins of Alchemy / Gerbert / Alfarabi / Avicenna / Albertus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas / Artephius / Arnold de Villeneuve / Pietro Daffone / Ramon Lull / George Ripley / Basil Valentinus / Trithemius / Gilles de Rais / Augurello / Cornelius Agrippa / Paracelsus / George Agricola / Rosicrucians / Count Saint-Germain / Recent Developments in Alchemy
Chapter 5: Prophecies of the Middle Ages
The End of the Year 1000 / Various Ends in the Early Modern Era / Plagues and the Devil / Thames Flood Prophecy / Mother Shipton and Robert Nixon
Chapter 6 Fortune-telling
Astrology / Other types of fortune telling / Dream interpretation / Omens
Chapter 7: Magnetotherapy and Hypnosis
Magnetotherapy and Weapon Ointment / Greattrax's Laying-on-the-Lay Therapy / Mesmer's Animal Magnetism Theory / Mesmer's Successors / The Efficacy of Magnetotherapy
Chapter 8: Shape of the head and beard
The Taste of Power and Religion / Henry I's Hair Cut by a Priest / The Monarch and the Beard
Chapter 9 The Crusades
Background of the Crusades / Peter the Hermit and Pope Urban II / Popular enthusiasm / Leaders of the Crusades / European nobles' participation in the Crusades / Fall of Antakya by the Crusaders / Occupation of Jerusalem / Failure of the Second Crusade due to internal strife / The Third Crusade and Richard I the Lionheart / The Fourth Crusade ended in defeat / The Fifth Crusade sacked Constantinople / The Children's Crusade and the Sixth Crusade / The Seventh and Eighth Crusades and the recapture of Jerusalem / The Last Crusade led by Louis IX / Results of the Crusades
Chapter 10: Witch Hunt
Misunderstandings about the Law of Moses / The appearance of the devil and witches / Political and religious motivations / Witch trials and executions / Witch hunts in England and Scotland / Witch trials in continental Europe / The decline of witch hunts / The persistent witchcraft superstition
Chapter 11: Natural History: Stomach Poisoning
The Overbury Poisoning Case / The Poisoning of James I / The Italian Poison Trade / Madame de Brinvilliers' Adultery and Murder / The Midwife Who Sold Poison
Chapter 12: The Haunted House
The Remnants of the Witch's Superstition / Rumors of a Haunted House Spread with Malice / The Royalist Ghost Play / The Ghosts of Cochrane Village / The Ordeal of Mrs. Golding / The Ghostly Trouble in a Scottish Farmhouse
Chapter 13: Buzzwords and Popular Songs
London's catchphrases / Popular songs that relieve the pain of everyday life
Chapter 14: The Worship of the Great Thief
The Great Thieves Who Captured the Public's Heart / The Great Thieves of England / The Great Thieves of France / The Great Thieves of Italy and Germany / Artworks Featuring Great Thieves
Chapter 15: The Duel
The Origin of Dueling / Dueling and Penalty / Dueling in the Early Middle Ages / Dueling in the 14th and 15th Centuries / Henry II and Dueling / The Age of Dueling Craze / Cardinal Richelieu and Louis XIV's Efforts to Ban Dueling / Dueling in England / Dueling in Ireland / Trivial and Foolish Dueling in the Early Modern Era / Efforts by Each Country to Abolish the Custom of Dueling
Chapter 16: Collecting Artifacts
The Comedy Surrounding Relics / The Madness of Collecting Relics
Translator's Note
Search
Chapter 1: The Mississippi Plan
John Law's Youth / John Law's Induction of the Issuance of Paper Money in France / The Speculative Mania Aroused by the Mississippi Plan / The Collapse of the Speculative Bubble / John Law's Departure from France
Chapter 2: South Sea Bubbles
The establishment of the South Sea Company and its skyrocketing stock price / The proliferation of bubble companies / The collapse of the South Sea Company / Public outrage and Parliament's response
Chapter 3: Tulip Mania
The introduction of tulips into Europe / The beginning of the tulip speculation / The end of the speculation
Chapter 4 Alchemy
The Origins of Alchemy / Gerbert / Alfarabi / Avicenna / Albertus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas / Artephius / Arnold de Villeneuve / Pietro Daffone / Ramon Lull / George Ripley / Basil Valentinus / Trithemius / Gilles de Rais / Augurello / Cornelius Agrippa / Paracelsus / George Agricola / Rosicrucians / Count Saint-Germain / Recent Developments in Alchemy
Chapter 5: Prophecies of the Middle Ages
The End of the Year 1000 / Various Ends in the Early Modern Era / Plagues and the Devil / Thames Flood Prophecy / Mother Shipton and Robert Nixon
Chapter 6 Fortune-telling
Astrology / Other types of fortune telling / Dream interpretation / Omens
Chapter 7: Magnetotherapy and Hypnosis
Magnetotherapy and Weapon Ointment / Greattrax's Laying-on-the-Lay Therapy / Mesmer's Animal Magnetism Theory / Mesmer's Successors / The Efficacy of Magnetotherapy
Chapter 8: Shape of the head and beard
The Taste of Power and Religion / Henry I's Hair Cut by a Priest / The Monarch and the Beard
Chapter 9 The Crusades
Background of the Crusades / Peter the Hermit and Pope Urban II / Popular enthusiasm / Leaders of the Crusades / European nobles' participation in the Crusades / Fall of Antakya by the Crusaders / Occupation of Jerusalem / Failure of the Second Crusade due to internal strife / The Third Crusade and Richard I the Lionheart / The Fourth Crusade ended in defeat / The Fifth Crusade sacked Constantinople / The Children's Crusade and the Sixth Crusade / The Seventh and Eighth Crusades and the recapture of Jerusalem / The Last Crusade led by Louis IX / Results of the Crusades
Chapter 10: Witch Hunt
Misunderstandings about the Law of Moses / The appearance of the devil and witches / Political and religious motivations / Witch trials and executions / Witch hunts in England and Scotland / Witch trials in continental Europe / The decline of witch hunts / The persistent witchcraft superstition
Chapter 11: Natural History: Stomach Poisoning
The Overbury Poisoning Case / The Poisoning of James I / The Italian Poison Trade / Madame de Brinvilliers' Adultery and Murder / The Midwife Who Sold Poison
Chapter 12: The Haunted House
The Remnants of the Witch's Superstition / Rumors of a Haunted House Spread with Malice / The Royalist Ghost Play / The Ghosts of Cochrane Village / The Ordeal of Mrs. Golding / The Ghostly Trouble in a Scottish Farmhouse
Chapter 13: Buzzwords and Popular Songs
London's catchphrases / Popular songs that relieve the pain of everyday life
Chapter 14: The Worship of the Great Thief
The Great Thieves Who Captured the Public's Heart / The Great Thieves of England / The Great Thieves of France / The Great Thieves of Italy and Germany / Artworks Featuring Great Thieves
Chapter 15: The Duel
The Origin of Dueling / Dueling and Penalty / Dueling in the Early Middle Ages / Dueling in the 14th and 15th Centuries / Henry II and Dueling / The Age of Dueling Craze / Cardinal Richelieu and Louis XIV's Efforts to Ban Dueling / Dueling in England / Dueling in Ireland / Trivial and Foolish Dueling in the Early Modern Era / Efforts by Each Country to Abolish the Custom of Dueling
Chapter 16: Collecting Artifacts
The Comedy Surrounding Relics / The Madness of Collecting Relics
Translator's Note
Search
Into the book
In its early days, the South Sea Company presented very ambitious plans for the development of mines in South America.
At this time, there were many rumors about gold and silver mines in Peru and Mexico, and the belief that their reserves were enormous was widespread.
The British knew that they could buy gold and silver bullion from the natives there for one-hundredth of the market price.
Rumors also spread that Spain would allow British ships to use four ports on the coasts of Chile and Peru.
---p.40
People flocked to the tulip speculation like flies flocking to a honey pot.
Everyone was under the illusion that the tulip boom would last forever and that the world's wealth would flow to the Netherlands.
Not only nobles and city dwellers, but also farmers, mechanics, sailors, and even chimney sweeps took part in the tulip speculation.
People sold their houses and land for a pittance and bought tulips.
Foreigners also got caught up in the speculative fever and came to the Netherlands, pouring money into buying tulips.
---p.67
Rosicrucians expanded the realm of alchemy, arguing that if one could obtain the Philosopher's Stone, it would not only be a means to wealth, but also a means to health and happiness.
It was also said that by using it to control transcendent beings, one could overcome the barriers of time and space and gain knowledge of the secrets of the universe.
---p.100
Among the patients who came to see Mesmer was a young woman named Franzl Österline.
She would have periodic convulsions, which would cause her to pass out as blood rushed to her head.
Mesmer alleviated her symptoms by using techniques that utilized planetary influences.
In the process, he came to the idea that just as celestial bodies interact, so do objects on Earth, including the human body.
---p.171~172
Passion was indeed contagious.
The Pope was greatly impressed by Pierre's boundless enthusiasm.
The Pope appointed Pierre as ambassador plenipotentiary and sent him to all Christian countries to preach the necessity of holy war.
Pierre's appeal was met with a great response from many people.
France, Germany, and Italy began preparing for a war to liberate Jerusalem.
---p.205
It is said that gatherings of demons and witches were held periodically to entertain the Demon King.
This meeting was called the "Sabbath meeting" and was held just after midnight on Friday or Saturday.
The devils and witches held this meeting in different places.
The meeting place was usually chosen as the intersection of four roads or near a lake.
And at least once a year, this meeting was held at Brocken Mountain.
---p.293~294
The list of duels over trivial reasons would be endless.
The writer Stern's father fought a duel over a goose, and the explorer Raleigh fought a duel over a tavern bill.
There are also many duels over card tricks or theater seats.
There are more cases where a duel is requested and accepted while drunk at night, and the duel is fought the next day, resulting in the death of one or both parties.
---p.466
Many people have become fools who, in their worship of everything connected with great men, forget that good virtue is the essence of greatness, and indiscriminately worship the jawbone of a saint, the toenail of an apostle who followed Jesus, the handkerchief from which a king blew his nose, and the rope from which a criminal was hanged.
In my attempts to find even the smallest symbol on the graves of those who have passed away, I have confused fame with infamy.
At this time, there were many rumors about gold and silver mines in Peru and Mexico, and the belief that their reserves were enormous was widespread.
The British knew that they could buy gold and silver bullion from the natives there for one-hundredth of the market price.
Rumors also spread that Spain would allow British ships to use four ports on the coasts of Chile and Peru.
---p.40
People flocked to the tulip speculation like flies flocking to a honey pot.
Everyone was under the illusion that the tulip boom would last forever and that the world's wealth would flow to the Netherlands.
Not only nobles and city dwellers, but also farmers, mechanics, sailors, and even chimney sweeps took part in the tulip speculation.
People sold their houses and land for a pittance and bought tulips.
Foreigners also got caught up in the speculative fever and came to the Netherlands, pouring money into buying tulips.
---p.67
Rosicrucians expanded the realm of alchemy, arguing that if one could obtain the Philosopher's Stone, it would not only be a means to wealth, but also a means to health and happiness.
It was also said that by using it to control transcendent beings, one could overcome the barriers of time and space and gain knowledge of the secrets of the universe.
---p.100
Among the patients who came to see Mesmer was a young woman named Franzl Österline.
She would have periodic convulsions, which would cause her to pass out as blood rushed to her head.
Mesmer alleviated her symptoms by using techniques that utilized planetary influences.
In the process, he came to the idea that just as celestial bodies interact, so do objects on Earth, including the human body.
---p.171~172
Passion was indeed contagious.
The Pope was greatly impressed by Pierre's boundless enthusiasm.
The Pope appointed Pierre as ambassador plenipotentiary and sent him to all Christian countries to preach the necessity of holy war.
Pierre's appeal was met with a great response from many people.
France, Germany, and Italy began preparing for a war to liberate Jerusalem.
---p.205
It is said that gatherings of demons and witches were held periodically to entertain the Demon King.
This meeting was called the "Sabbath meeting" and was held just after midnight on Friday or Saturday.
The devils and witches held this meeting in different places.
The meeting place was usually chosen as the intersection of four roads or near a lake.
And at least once a year, this meeting was held at Brocken Mountain.
---p.293~294
The list of duels over trivial reasons would be endless.
The writer Stern's father fought a duel over a goose, and the explorer Raleigh fought a duel over a tavern bill.
There are also many duels over card tricks or theater seats.
There are more cases where a duel is requested and accepted while drunk at night, and the duel is fought the next day, resulting in the death of one or both parties.
---p.466
Many people have become fools who, in their worship of everything connected with great men, forget that good virtue is the essence of greatness, and indiscriminately worship the jawbone of a saint, the toenail of an apostle who followed Jesus, the handkerchief from which a king blew his nose, and the rope from which a criminal was hanged.
In my attempts to find even the smallest symbol on the graves of those who have passed away, I have confused fame with infamy.
---p.474~475
Publisher's Review
Humans are rational beings, but they are also extremely irrational beings.
The irrational side of humans is particularly evident in thoughts and behaviors called mob psychology, groupthink, herding, and herding phenomena.
There are countless examples throughout history of people who, as individuals, were rational and wise, but when they joined a group, they acted irrationally and foolishly.
This has often led to entire countries, or even entire continents, being swept up in a frenzied mood and engaging in impulsive actions.
This book vividly recreates these historical examples.
Perhaps because the author was a Scottish-born British journalist who wrote and edited articles for several newspapers, this book stands out in many ways, including its objective perspective, keen insight, faithful descriptions of the facts, entertaining narrative style, and interesting expressions.
Although it covers 16 historical cases, including the tulip mania, the Crusades, and witch hunts, divided into chapters, the human errors and foolishness revealed in collective thinking and actions are the main theme and perspective that permeates the entire book.
Even today, in every country in the world, collective errors or madness occur, and things happen that are simply incomprehensible to reason.
Sometimes a wicked conman is made into a hero, and sometimes an outrageous trick is seen as a chance to get rich quick.
The development of financial markets promotes efficient allocation of capital, but on the other hand, it also encourages speculation and creates bubbles.
The development of the Internet contributes to democracy by expanding people's access to information, but at the same time, it also fosters irrational mob culture by rapidly spreading false or intentionally motivated information.
In this respect, this book is still worth reading today.
Although this book was written in the early 1840s, some 170 years ago, its content and insights are still worthy of being used as a lighthouse to illuminate the dark and shady corners of humanity and society today.
In particular, the book's records and commentary on the Mississippi Plan scandal in France, the South Sea Company bubble in England, and the Dutch tulip mania are not only recognized for their literary value in themselves, but also greatly contribute to examining the socio-psychological foundations of speculative bubbles that frequently occur in financial markets today.
The irrational side of humans is particularly evident in thoughts and behaviors called mob psychology, groupthink, herding, and herding phenomena.
There are countless examples throughout history of people who, as individuals, were rational and wise, but when they joined a group, they acted irrationally and foolishly.
This has often led to entire countries, or even entire continents, being swept up in a frenzied mood and engaging in impulsive actions.
This book vividly recreates these historical examples.
Perhaps because the author was a Scottish-born British journalist who wrote and edited articles for several newspapers, this book stands out in many ways, including its objective perspective, keen insight, faithful descriptions of the facts, entertaining narrative style, and interesting expressions.
Although it covers 16 historical cases, including the tulip mania, the Crusades, and witch hunts, divided into chapters, the human errors and foolishness revealed in collective thinking and actions are the main theme and perspective that permeates the entire book.
Even today, in every country in the world, collective errors or madness occur, and things happen that are simply incomprehensible to reason.
Sometimes a wicked conman is made into a hero, and sometimes an outrageous trick is seen as a chance to get rich quick.
The development of financial markets promotes efficient allocation of capital, but on the other hand, it also encourages speculation and creates bubbles.
The development of the Internet contributes to democracy by expanding people's access to information, but at the same time, it also fosters irrational mob culture by rapidly spreading false or intentionally motivated information.
In this respect, this book is still worth reading today.
Although this book was written in the early 1840s, some 170 years ago, its content and insights are still worthy of being used as a lighthouse to illuminate the dark and shady corners of humanity and society today.
In particular, the book's records and commentary on the Mississippi Plan scandal in France, the South Sea Company bubble in England, and the Dutch tulip mania are not only recognized for their literary value in themselves, but also greatly contribute to examining the socio-psychological foundations of speculative bubbles that frequently occur in financial markets today.
GOODS SPECIFICS
- Date of publication: June 15, 2018
- Page count, weight, size: 500 pages | 618g | 155*210*28mm
- ISBN13: 9791162950029
- ISBN10: 1162950021
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