Fanaticism: what is it, signs, examples, reasons, disadvantages

Fanaticism as a personality quality is a tendency to blindly, unconsciously, without recognizing any arguments, to follow certain ideas and beliefs without alternative; show extreme intolerance to any other worldviews.

“If you want to comprehend the truth, go to those rocks,” the Teacher pointed into the distance with his hand. - And check what is stronger - the stone or your heads. A few days later the disciples returned from a tiring journey. To those who came with an indifferent expression, the Teacher angrily said: “Go away, you are not listening to me.” You didn't reach the rocks. To those who came enlightened, the Teacher only smiled and remained silent. To those whose foreheads were bleeding and their eyes were burning with fanatical fire, he asked quietly: “Did I really ask you for this?”

The human mind performs a number of functions - understanding the truth, the ability to remember, to be mistaken and to doubt. Doubt is the conscience of the mind, forcing it once again to return to the understanding of a particular issue, to analyze it from all sides. The search for truth is fraught with doubt. Her favorites firmly know that they need to question everything before giving the go-ahead to consent, and not make an exception for themselves. When the mind of an impressionable, emotional, insecure person receives information that greatly worries his mind and feelings, and the function of doubt in his mind is atrophied, he blindly accepts it. In such an algorithm, fanaticism arises, such as insanity, madness, exceptional passion, stupid gullibility and blind worship. Like any neutralizer of reason, fanaticism steadily leads a person to degradation.

A fanatic is a disabled person in whom the function of doubt has atrophied, and, due to this circumstance, he blindly follows any idea that stirs up and excites his impressionable, emotional mind. The trouble with fanaticism is the absence of an inquisitive mind and a doubting mind, laziness and unwillingness to seek the truth. They told him: “The Caucasians are to blame for all your misfortunes,” the thought excited the inexperienced mind with its simplicity and clarity, and he believed without analyzing, without checking, without doubting. The fanatic says: “Let the horse think - he has a big head. I have nothing to think about and everything is clear.” This is how laziness and reluctance to seek the truth works when the function of the mind to doubt is amputated. The fanatic should be pitied, for he is blind as an andabat, and becomes a victim of this illness of his. Andabates in Ancient Rome were gladiators whose face was covered with a shield with narrow slits, which made the warrior see almost nothing. Desperately waving his sword, the Andabat tried to make up for this deficiency, but more often than not he struck the air, while the sneaking up enemy threw a net and inflicted a mortal wound on him.

So, the algorithm of fanaticism is simple: receipt of incoming information (stimulus) - impressionable, emotional perception without a shadow of doubt about its truth, gullibility - acceptance as a guide to action - aggravation of the reaction - cycling. In the last two stages, fanaticism receives an energetic charge. A person repeatedly passes through the mind the same idea, only in different interpretations, a chain reaction occurs when the brain keeps returning to the same thought. Hitler was incapable of not talking about Jews for more than ten minutes. An insecure person, armed with fanaticism, for example, by creating an idol for himself, finds in it a kind of compensation for his complexes.

A fanatic is constantly under stress. In a normal person, the mind can pass through tens of thousands of thoughts per day. “Mind chatter” is accompanied by free flight of thoughts. A fanatic is a man of one dominant thought. The circumstances of his life force him to switch for a second from the dominant thought to the current needs of the day, but he does this mechanically, half asleep, without losing contact with the fanatical idea. It is not for nothing that the word “fanaticism” comes from the Latin fanaticus - “frantic”. And that, in turn, comes from fanum - “temple”. In ancient Rome, temple priests who showed special religious zeal were called fanatics.

Fanaticism cannot be confused with religiosity. It's not about religion, it's about how a person believes. A fanatic, unlike a believer, says: “My God is better” and is aggressive towards representatives of other spiritual traditions. Religion does not teach him hatred towards people of other faiths. If it teaches, then it is not a religion, but a sect. Remember the second lieutenant from Dostoevsky’s “Demons”: he smashed all the icons, extinguished all the candles and immediately hung portraits of atheist philosophers in the red corner and... reverently lit the candles again.

Paradoxically, the fanatic does not care which cult he serves. There would be a cult, but there would be fanatics. The fan gets a “high” not from the idol, but from serving him. That is, the idol is a screen for fanaticism; he truly values ​​not Presley, Marilyn Monroe or Alla Pugacheva, but his “selfless” service to them. In other words, fanaticism is the self-service of an impressionable mind with pleasure from the process of serving an idol or some idea.

Fanaticism is eternally dissatisfied and dissatisfied with the outside world. Professing the principle: “We shouldn’t bend to the changing world, let it bend to us,” he, with youthful maximalism, strives to shake up the political situation in his country. It is no coincidence that the “dark fellow traveler” of fanaticism awakens during periods of transition for the country. This is a golden time for rabid fanatics, when you can destroy a public building to the ground, and others will rebuild it. Fanaticism always means destruction, grief, tears and blood. It is a contagious disease for disempowered and dehumanized individuals, hooking them on the hook of purposefulness and sincerity. Oscar Wilde rightly noted: “The most unforgivable thing about a fanatic is his sincerity.” The stubborn young man enviously looks at the sparkle in the fanatic’s eyes; he is captivated by the conviction and sacrifice, desperate determination and romance of his life. Trying to imitate his idol, he joins the army of fanatics.

The inner world of a fanatic is painted in black and white. No halftones. If the enemy does not surrender, he is destroyed. He who is not with us is against us. Fanaticism needs an enemy, like a drug addict needs a dose. As Nikolai Berdyaev wrote, “fanaticism always divides the world... into two hostile camps. This is a military division. Fanaticism does not allow the coexistence of different ideas and worldviews. There is only the enemy. This terrible simplification makes the struggle easier... Like a jealous person, he sees only one thing everywhere: only treason, only betrayal, only a violation of fidelity to one - he is suspicious and suspicious, everywhere he opens conspiracies against his favorite idea.”

We must understand that a fanatic, possessing a mind incapable of doubt, experiences a state of childish helplessness. He needs a “mom”, and even better, together with a dad and powerful brothers who will “show everyone” if someone plans to offend him. When there is no “family” support, an insecure person with low self-esteem worries about his defenselessness in the hostile world around him. So he reaches out under the wing of the flock, trying to get under the roof of the powers that be. Mikhail Weller writes: “When the violent energy of youth is concentrated at one point, a terrible penetrating force develops. Fanatics, who sometimes reach the top, are made precisely from children who are deprived of something by nature: timid, weak, ugly, poor - all their desire for self-affirmation takes a single direction in which they can surpass others, compensating for their inferiority.” In the damned days of revolutions, the fanatic experiences, according to E. Erikson, a strong desire to “succumb to the totalitarian and authoritarian illusion of integrity, given in advance, with one leader at the head of a single party, with one ideology that gives a simple explanation of all nature and history, with one unconditional an enemy who must be destroyed by one centralized punitive body - and with the constant direction of the impotent rage accumulating in this state towards the external enemy.”

Fanaticism and love are as far apart from each other as good and evil. Love prefers unity, intimacy, the merging of kindred souls. She doesn't need a third wheel and other peeps. Fanaticism is a herd feeling; it “loves” an idol collectively and publicly. The main thing is to get lost in the kodlu, to assert yourself through mass participation, and the idol and ideas are up to the lamp. It is no coincidence that football fans are attracted to all sorts of trash who don’t even know the rules of the game. There is this fan joke: “A guy tells an experienced fan that he and his buddies decided to organize a fan group. “How many of you are there?” - asks the fan. - "Twenty. Only half of football cares!”

Fanaticism is the exaltation of an abstract opinion, divorced from life, of reason that does not doubt, to the detriment and destruction of concrete lives of innocent people. Political and religious fanatics have no regard for the lives of those around them. And this is the most serious problem that humanity has faced in the face of “ideological” terrorists. Whatever they call themselves, the essence is the same - fanatics. Exploring the psychology of fanatics using the example of the murderer of the German Foreign Minister W. Rethenau (this incident occurred in 1922) Kern, E. Fromm cites his following statement: “I could not stand it if the defeated fatherland, split into pieces, was again reborn into something great ... We don’t need “the happiness of the people.” We are fighting to make him accept his fate... When asked how he, a Kaiser’s officer, was able to survive the day of the revolution, he replies: “I did not survive it. I, as honor ordered me, put a bullet in my forehead on November 9, 1918. I am dead, what remains alive in me is not me. I don’t know my “I” anymore from this day on... I do what I have to do. Because I had to die, I die every day. Everything I do is the result of one single powerful will: I serve it, I am completely devoted to it. This will wants destruction and I destroy... and if this will leaves me, I will fall and be trampled, I know it.” E. Fromm o.

The meaning of the word "fanaticism"

1.

The way of thinking and acting of a fanatic, frenzied devotion to his religion, combined with extreme intolerance towards other beliefs.
The Circassians very recently adopted the Mohammedan faith.
They were carried away by the active fanaticism of the apostles of the Koran. Pushkin, Travel to Arzrum.
At the first stage of any religious difference of opinion, fanaticism inevitably manifests itself in all its strength, with all its dark sides.
Melnikov-Pechersky, Letters on the schism.

Source (printed version):

Dictionary of the Russian language: In 4 volumes / RAS, Institute of Linguistics.
research; Ed. A. P. Evgenieva. — 4th ed., erased. - M.: Rus. language; Polygraph resources, 1999; (electronic version):
Fundamental electronic library

Fanaticism in the sphere of sentiment is the same as dogmatism in the sphere of thought and despotism in the sphere of action, imposing on others submission to someone else's will. The opposite of fanaticism is indifferentism, and tolerance occupies a middle position between them. The best remedy against fanaticism is a culture of mind and instilling in people respect for the human person.

FANATICISM

, a,
plural
no,
m.
The way of thinking and acting of a fanatic, extreme intolerance.
Religious f.
He is blinded by fanaticism. Source:

“Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language” edited by D. N. Ushakov (1935-1940);
(electronic version):
Fundamental electronic library

fanaticism

1. commitment to any beliefs or views taken to the extreme, intolerance to any other views ◆ Religious fanaticism

.

2. transfer passionate devotion to something

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Notes

  1. Soviet military encyclopedia, 1980.
  2. Dictionary of foreign words. 18th ed., erased. - M: Russian language, 1989. - P. 531. ISBN 5-200-00408-8 (erroneous)
  3. 1 2 3 4 Fanaticism // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg, 1890-1907.
  4. Santayana, George. Life of Reason: Reason in Common Sense. (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons)
  5. Thorne, Scott; Bruner, Gordon C. An exploratory investigation of the characteristics of consumer fanaticism (English) // Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal : journal. - 2006. - Vol. 9, no. 1. - P. 51-72. — ISSN 1352-2752. — DOI:10.1108/13522750610640558.
  6. 1 2 Berdyaev N. A. About fanaticism, orthodoxy and truth / “Man”, No. 9, 1997.
  7. Berdyaev N. A. The fate of Russia: Self-knowledge / Rostov-on-Don; Phoenix, 1997. P. 263.
  8. G. P. Chistyakov - philologist, historian, theologian. He was a priest of the Church of St. Cosmas and Damian in Moscow and rector of the Church of the Intercession of the Virgin Mary at the Children's Republican Clinical Hospital, a member of the Board of the Russian Bible Society and the International Association for the Study of the Church Fathers, rector of the Public Orthodox University, founded by Archpriest A. Men, head of the department of cultural history at MIPT . He has given lectures at MIPT on the history of Christianity and theological thought since 1985.
  9. Chistyakov G. Where does this anger come from?
  10. 1 2 Religious extremism
  11. Modern terrorism: myths and reality
  12. Mexican terrorists hijacked a plane
  13. A group of Christian terrorists who were preparing to start a war with the government is on trial in the United States.
  14. Optical sights for the Pentagon are “coded” by the New Testament
  15. US Marines fire Bible code rifles (inaccessible link). Retrieved August 26, 2010. Archived September 24, 2010.

Signs of fanaticism

A fanatic is a person with extremely radical views. There is individual fanaticism and mass fanaticism. Single fanatics choose a higher goal, an idea, and blindly follow it, reacting aggressively to criticism from others. As a rule, these are highly educated people, scientists who are fixated on one idea (a great discovery). They lock themselves in their laboratory and consider all their colleagues idiots. They are ready to lay down their lives to prove to everyone that they are right.

Fanaticism is a mental disorder, and in this case, a person destroys only himself.

▪️Political fanaticism is more dangerous because the goals and objectives of the leader are not so selfless, and fanatically loyal people become “expendable.” The leader puts various ideas into the heads of fanatics that will ultimately lead him to power. These could be mass rallies, fights, pogroms and even murders.

▪️National fanaticism is no less dangerous than political fanaticism. The obsession with one's own racial (national) superiority has led to more than one war.

A fanatical person has his own behavioral characteristics:

    Painful experience of criticism towards the object of his worship and a violent reaction in response to what he considers criticism; Truth and truth are replaced by blind faith; The presence of attributes (any objects) that relate to his ideal; Imitating your idol (hairstyle, clothes, manners, etc.); Pride and self-superiority; Loss of interest in previous hobbies; Isolation or communication only with a narrow circle of like-minded people.

It is possible to develop fanaticism against the background of schizophrenia (schizotypal disorders), paranoia, hysterical personality type, or traumatic brain injury.

Fanaticism in psychology is destructive behavior that poses a danger to the fanatic himself and those around him. Confidence in one’s own rightness, aggressiveness, complete lack of fear and morality makes a fanatic an ideal “killing machine.”

Story

The Federal News Agency, which began work on May 22, 2014, was headed by the former top manager of the regional branch of RIA Novosti Vladislav Kraev (who was the general editor) and the former editor of Rosbalt Evgeny Zubarev. The agency owns the websites “People's News” and “Economy Today”. Since August 25, 2014, editor-in-chief Evgeniy Zubarev has owned the nahnews.com.ua domain, where the Kharkov News Agency (NAHNews) began publishing materials in September.

In 2015, FAN and a number of media outlets (“Economy Today”, “Federal Agency of Incidents” and “Svobodnoe Vremya”), owned by a common legal entity, moved from the street. Savushkina, 55 (where the so-called “troll factory” is located) to the office in the business on the street. Beloostrovskaya, 8. By 2017, in addition to FAN, Politics Today and Economics Today, People's News was also listed there. Since 2022, the FAN-funded English-language publication USA Really has been operating, covering problems in the United States, which was blocked on the largest American social networks shortly after its creation.

The agency employs former employees of Rosbalt, RIA Novosti, Telegraph, and Baltinfo. Popular search queries related to FAN were devoted to events in Syria and Ukraine. The publication's journalists were the first to receive exclusive materials from Syria, which RBC attributed to the help of the Wagner PMC, which is associated with Yevgeny Prigozhin. The head of the agency, Evgeniy Zubarev, admits bias in the editorial policy in relation to some news from Ukraine.

In 2015, according to SPARK-Interfax, the revenue of the Federal News Agency amounted to 7.4 million rubles.

In February 2022, the Federal News Agency had a monthly audience of 11 million people, which made it the leader among the Media Factory sites. According to Medialogy, FAN took seventh place in terms of citations in 2022.

Types of fanaticism

In the psychiatric literature, there are seven types of fanaticism, and there is a clear description of each disorder. Like many mental disorders, the origins of fanaticism should be sought in childhood. A totalitarian regime in a country, an authoritarian regime in a family, all this leaves its mark on the development of personality and affects the appearance of one or another disorder.

    Cultural; Religious; Sports; Political; Healthy; Ideological; Scientific;

In most cases, in unfavorable conditions, children grow up with low self-esteem and need a leader, or someone who will love them.

As a rule, such people choose an idol - a famous person - and begin to worship her. They attend events where the object of their adoration appears, sit in ambush near the house, steal personal belongings and bombard them with love messages.

Idealizing his idol, the fan reacts extremely painfully to everything that happens in the life of his chosen one. Soon the fanatic begins to consider the idol as property, and may try to harm him if, in his opinion, the idol begins to behave incorrectly.

Often fanatical behavior develops in poorly educated people who lead a secluded lifestyle. Even with a slight push, such people can develop religious fanaticism. They read religious literature, but interpret it in their own way.

Even if the religion is quite peaceful, fanatic people eventually cross the line. They try to convince everyone of the truth of their religion, and quite aggressively.

Why is fanaticism dangerous?

At first glance, the fight against various religious organizations, of which a great many have proliferated recently, looks like a violation of freedom of religion. But if you dig deeper, it turns out that the vast majority of sects use the fanaticism of their adherents for their own enrichment. By luring mentally unstable people into their networks, they deprive them of all their savings, housing, and sometimes even their lives.

History remembers many mass terrorist attacks and suicides of sectarians that occurred under the influence of their “guru.” A fanatic differs from a fan in that the former needs enemies. If there are no enemies, the fanatic will invent them, because for him, life without struggle has no meaning. Any person who doubts the “higher goal” and ideals of the fanatic can become a victim.

The constant stress that a fanatic experiences exhausts his nervous system, which leads to constant emotional outbursts and fixation on one idea. If an ordinary person in a sober mind passes through tens of thousands of thoughts per day, then a fanatic has only one dominant idea and everything revolves around it.

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How to get rid of fanaticism?

► In most cases, the first signs of fanaticism appear in adolescence. Teenagers, as a rule, are “fans” of musical groups, famous bloggers, and under favorable conditions, over time this hobby goes away without developing into a disorder.

► Relatives pay attention to the unhealthy behavior of their loved one when the disease has already taken root in his mind. This frightens and pushes loved ones to take rash steps. It is not enough to simply throw away all the fanatic's paraphernalia and souvenirs and lock him up at home. The disorder is quite serious, and even treatment by a psychotherapist does not provide a 100% guarantee of cure.

► The patient cannot admit his fanatical state, and no one is able to convince him of the need for therapy. The victim of fanaticism is, first of all, the fanatic himself, who has become dependent on his ideas.

► Any type of fanaticism is a psychological dependence, the source of which is fear. It is fear that pushes a person to seek fanatical attachment, in which he sees himself. By defending his ideas, the patient is protecting himself, and it is important to understand where this fear came from.

► During the treatment period, the patient may need hospitalization and forced isolation to prevent self-harm and deviant behavior. During the period of exacerbation of the disorder, the patient becomes socially dangerous.

Having lost access to the object of his worship, the patient feels a semblance of withdrawal. In some cases, medication may be required to relieve excessive arousal.

The tactics for treating fanaticism are similar to the method of treating alcoholism or drug addiction. Depending on the severity of the disorder, individual or group therapy aimed at deprogramming the patient is indicated.

In the process of therapy, the patient learns to be critical of any categorical statements and to promptly recognize manipulations. Treatment and rehabilitation of fanaticism is long-term, and the key to success is the patient’s desire to be cured, as well as the help of the family.

About the author: Hello! I am Karolina Korableva. I live in the Moscow region, in the city of Odintsovo. I love life and people. I try to be realistic and optimistic in life. What I value in people is their ability to behave. I am interested in psychology, in particular conflictology. Graduated from RGSU, Faculty of Occupational Psychology and Special Psychology.

Scandals

In July 2016, FAN editor-in-chief Evgeny Zubarev, during a hearing on Yevgeny Prigozhin’s lawsuit against Yandex to exclude 22 links to materials about his business from the search engine’s results in order to “prevent the dissemination of information about the names of articles,” tried to prevent other journalists from going to court The media, instructing their employees to take all available seats in the hall.

At the end of October 2022, Google, without explanation, removed links to FAN and the entire archive of publications in Google News from search results. FAN considered this “an act of political censorship that benefits the US government, carried out to limit the dissemination of information about the fight against international terrorism.” After a request to Google from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Roskomnadzor, on November 4, 2017, 8 days after the blocking, Google unblocked access and the news archive.

In December 2022, the US Treasury imposed sanctions against RIA FAN as associated with Evgeniy Prigozhin’s Concord Management and Consulting.

In August 2022, RIA FAN and three related publications were added to the Russian Wikipedia spam list as sources of political disinformation. In response, RIA FAN released news with reference to State Duma deputy Mikhail Yemelyanov, in which he stated that Wikipedia’s decision is an example of the selectivity of freedom of speech in the West.

  1. 1 2 3 IA FAN - a new project by Evgeny Prigozhin?
  2. Information agency "FEDERAL NEWS AGENCY (RIA FAN)"
  3. https://riafan.ru/page/o-nas
  4. 1 2 Prigozhin has already dismissed Poltavchenko // Fontanka.ru, 09/23/2016
  5. The St. Petersburg “troll factory” suffered from the “Maidan flames” (inaccessible link). Retrieved February 5, 2022. Archived February 5, 2022.
  6. Game of trolls: the hip digi-kids helping Putin's fight for online supremacy
  7. Rezunkov V. They love Putin for 12 hours straight // Radio Liberty, 03.14.2015
  8. Petrov O. Agony of trolls from RIA FAN // The Moscow Post, 02.11.2016
  9. A network of pro-Kremlin sites associated with the “troll factory” was identified using Google Analytics
  10. Open-Source Information Reveals Pro-Kremlin Web Campaign (inaccessible link)
  11. Anton Butsenko. Networks of “Ukrainian” news sites have been discovered in Russia “Business Petersburg”, 11/11/2014
  12. Adrian Chen. The New York Times Agency, 06/04/2015
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Andrey Zakharov, Polina Rusyaeva, with the participation of Vladislav Kovalenko. RBC investigation: how a “media factory” grew from a “troll factory” RBC, No. 4, 2017
  14. Kremlin propaganda moves to the USA
  15. Why St. Petersburg publications are closing and what happened to BaltInfo, Telegraph and Echo of Petersburg
  16. FAN launches the “Media Classifier” project
  17. The most read Internet portals were divided by class
  18. 26 anti-Russian media, according to the Federal News Agency
  19. RIA FAN has replaced its editor-in-chief
  20. About 20 journalists were not allowed to attend the open court hearing on Prigozhin’s lawsuit against Yandex.
  21. The editors of FAN announced the cessation of issuing links in the Google service News “RIA Novosti”, 11/02/2017
  22. Google News stopped publishing news from the FAN agency, which is associated with the “troll factory” Meduza, 11/02/2017
  23. Google Incorporated has returned FAN access to Google.News
  24. The United States imposed sanctions against the FAN agency, Mishkin and Chepiga. RBC. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
  25. Treasury Targets Russian Operatives over Election Interference, World Anti-Doping Agency Hacking, and Other Malign Activities | US Department of the Treasury. home.treasury.gov. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
  26. Wikipedia blacklisted four media outlets associated with businessman Prigozhin. New newspaper - Novayagazeta.ru. Retrieved August 5, 2022.

Which means only without fanaticism. Without fanaticism, it's like

Fanaticism as a personality quality is a tendency to blindly, unconsciously, without recognizing any arguments, to follow certain ideas and beliefs without alternative; show extreme intolerance to any other worldviews.

“If you want to comprehend the truth, go to those rocks,” the Teacher pointed into the distance with his hand. - And check what is stronger - the stone or your heads. A few days later the disciples returned from a tiring journey. To those who came with an indifferent expression, the Teacher angrily said: “Go away, you are not listening to me.” You didn't reach the rocks. To those who came enlightened, the Teacher only smiled and remained silent. To those whose foreheads were bleeding and their eyes were burning with fanatical fire, he asked quietly: “Did I really ask you for this?”

The human mind performs a number of functions - understanding the truth, the ability to remember, to be mistaken and to doubt. Doubt is the conscience of the mind, forcing it once again to return to the understanding of a particular issue, to analyze it from all sides. The search for truth is fraught with doubt. Her favorites firmly know that they need to question everything before giving the go-ahead to consent, and not make an exception for themselves. When the mind of an impressionable, emotional, insecure person receives information that greatly worries his mind and feelings, and the function of doubt in his mind is atrophied, he blindly accepts it. In such an algorithm, fanaticism arises, such as insanity, madness, exceptional passion, stupid gullibility and blind worship. Like any neutralizer of reason, fanaticism steadily leads a person to degradation.

A fanatic is a disabled person in whom the function of doubt has atrophied, and, due to this circumstance, he blindly follows any idea that stirs up and excites his impressionable, emotional mind. The trouble with fanaticism is the absence of an inquisitive mind and a doubting mind, laziness and unwillingness to seek the truth. They told him: “The Caucasians are to blame for all your misfortunes,” the thought excited the inexperienced mind with its simplicity and clarity, and he believed without analyzing, without checking, without doubting. The fanatic says: “Let the horse think - he has a big head. I have nothing to think about and everything is clear.” This is how laziness and reluctance to seek the truth works when the function of the mind to doubt is amputated. The fanatic should be pitied, for he is blind as an andabat, and becomes a victim of this illness of his. Andabates in Ancient Rome were gladiators whose face was covered with a shield with narrow slits, which made the warrior see almost nothing. Desperately waving his sword, the Andabat tried to make up for this deficiency, but more often than not he struck the air, while the sneaking up enemy threw a net and inflicted a mortal wound on him.

So, the algorithm of fanaticism is simple: receipt of incoming information (stimulus) - impressionable, emotional perception without a shadow of doubt about its truth, gullibility - acceptance as a guide to action - aggravation of the reaction - cycling. In the last two stages, fanaticism receives an energetic charge. A person repeatedly passes through the mind the same idea, only in different interpretations, a chain reaction occurs when the brain keeps returning to the same thought. Hitler was incapable of not talking about Jews for more than ten minutes. An insecure person, armed with fanaticism, for example, by creating an idol for himself, finds in it a kind of compensation for his complexes.

A fanatic is constantly under stress. In a normal person, the mind can pass through tens of thousands of thoughts per day. “Mind chatter” is accompanied by free flight of thoughts. A fanatic is a man of one dominant thought. The circumstances of his life force him to switch for a second from the dominant thought to the current needs of the day, but he does this mechanically, half asleep, without losing contact with the fanatical idea. It is not for nothing that the word “fanaticism” comes from the Latin fanaticus - “frantic”. And that, in turn, comes from fanum - “temple”. In ancient Rome, temple priests who showed special religious zeal were called fanatics.

Fanaticism cannot be confused with religiosity. It's not about religion, it's about how a person believes. A fanatic, unlike a believer, says: “My God is better” and is aggressive towards representatives of other spiritual traditions. Religion does not teach him hatred towards people of other faiths. If it teaches, then it is not a religion, but a sect. Remember the second lieutenant from Dostoevsky’s “Demons”: he smashed all the icons, extinguished all the candles and immediately hung portraits of atheist philosophers in the red corner and... reverently lit the candles again.

Paradoxically, the fanatic does not care which cult he serves. There would be a cult, but there would be fanatics. The fan gets a “high” not from the idol, but from serving him. That is, the idol is a screen for fanaticism; he truly values ​​not Presley, Marilyn Monroe or Alla Pugacheva, but his “selfless” service to them. In other words, fanaticism is the self-service of an impressionable mind with pleasure from the process of serving an idol or some idea.

Fanaticism is eternally dissatisfied and dissatisfied with the outside world. Professing the principle: “We shouldn’t bend to the changing world, let it bend to us,” he, with youthful maximalism, strives to shake up the political situation in his country. It is no coincidence that the “dark fellow traveler” of fanaticism awakens during periods of transition for the country. This is a golden time for rabid fanatics, when you can destroy a public building to the ground, and others will rebuild it. Fanaticism always means destruction, grief, tears and blood. It is a contagious disease for disempowered and dehumanized individuals, hooking them on the hook of purposefulness and sincerity. Oscar Wilde rightly noted: “The most unforgivable thing about a fanatic is his sincerity.” The stubborn young man enviously looks at the sparkle in the fanatic’s eyes; he is captivated by the conviction and sacrifice, desperate determination and romance of his life. Trying to imitate his idol, he joins the army of fanatics.

Concept

Fanaticism as an emotional manifestation is characterized by excessive zeal, enthusiasm, obsession, blind faith in the correctness of one’s (most often extreme religious or political) beliefs, in the superiority and exclusivity of the object of one’s adoration and its followers in one’s own person.

According to the definition of the American philosopher George Santayana, “Fanaticism consists of redoubling efforts when the goal is forgotten”; According to Winston Churchill, “a fanatic is one who is unable to change his mind and never changes the subject.” Both of these definitions imply extremely strict requirements and intolerance for any deviations.

The difference between a fanatic and an admirer is that the behavior of a fanatic is seen as a violation of prevailing social norms, while the fan does not violate these norms (although his behavior may seem strange). What unites fans and fanatics is their all-consuming interest, love for a particular field of activity, occupation, hobby, person.

The so-called eccentrics differ from fanatics in that the ideas they profess and the activities they engage in are usually harmless, but very different from generally accepted ideas or the usual behavior and lifestyle of the people around them. As for fanatics, the object of their worship or passion in itself can be considered “normal”, and only the degree of obsession seems excessive or “abnormal” to others.

Medieval fans

Often a person analyzes his actions and comes to the conclusion that only his behavior is basic and correct in all respects. This is not true. Each person is very scrupulous and competent, but in his own way.

When people communicate with each other and one of them strives for complete fanaticism from the ideas of the other, then such fanaticism cannot be called real.

The concept of “without fanaticism” helps people get rid of unnecessary dependence on other people’s opinions.

In the Middle Ages, Christian Europe experienced a regime of “fanatics.” These were the crusaders who spread the canons of the Catholic Church by force.

At the same time, the Inquisition flourished. People disliked by the authorities and the church were betrayed by the fanatical ministers of the Catholic Church to various tortures, condemnation and even death.

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