The Wave

[Rev. Iconocclesiastes]

If any of the readers of this forum are confused as to how people are lured into groups, or are slowly molded into towing a particular line of thinking and action, I recommend viewing this short film in order to help gain an understanding of the closed-group mentality.  This docu-drama recreates an actual incident at an American High School (in the mid-sixties) in which a history teacher teaches his students about Hitler and Nazism.  The students ask how was it possible to transform decent German citizens into supporting and carrying out the will of the Nazis.  So in response to this question, the history teacher starts to encourage his students to form a power base within the class, create a dynamic name/identity, determine who the leader should be, and influence other students to join the group.  It's called "The Wave".

Watch the results!

"The Wave" has a very poignant ending which I won't spoil for others. This film beautifully outlines the way in which people can be manipulated rather well.  It's an interesting story, but frightening at the same time; what a fine veneer there is in society between common decency and group barbarism.

The reason that I encourage all of you to watch this, is because I see something similar happening here in this forum.  Dudeism (in my view) and the way that it is interpreted here is being turned into just another Wave-like clique.  It does not matter if it's a high-school history class, an internet discussion forum, or an entire nation; the social-psychological dynamics and group-conformity pressures are all the same.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKQLbFfRF4s

Enjoy!

[Rev. Iconocclesiastes]

Has anybody watched "The Wave" yet?  If you have, then you'd probably "get" my references to August Landmesser and "Dudeists Uber Alles".