[1] In episode one, Curtis says, "This series is about how those in power have used Freud's theories to try and control the dangerous crowd in an age of mass democracy.". He had discovered he said, primitive, sexual and aggressive forces hidden deep inside the minds of all human beings. This documentary is nothing short of astonishing. Forces which if not controlled led individuals and societies to chaos and destruction. This and more happens in just the first hour of the documentary, titled Happiness Machines. The second hour, the weakest in my view, is called The Engineering of Consent and focuses on the ascendancy of psychoanalysis and Anna Freuds consolidation of power. Harvard scholar talks research, inspiration behind book tracing path to stand-your-ground laws After the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in 2012, Harvard historian Caroline Light felt compelled to explore the roots of the American right to self-defense, which has helped turned the United States into a country with more guns than people. Description. The documentary fails to make that point and lets the viewer assume that there is some dark and mysterious plot behind all this. on the Internet. In addition, things that people favoured in the short term (like spending less on infrastructure), backfired in the medium and long run and cost politicians votes. edit. asks deeper questions about the roots and methods of modern In this new individualistic society, there is no society really. 'A hundred years ago a new theory about human nature was put forth by Sigmund Freud. Transcript Donald Trump joined Israel Prime Minister Benjamin. Basic analysis: The Century of the Self contrasts film footage with an ominous narrative. It describes the way our ideas about human nature have changed and how the development of psychology . Adam Curtis 2007. He had discovered he said, primitive and sexual and aggressive forces hidden deep inside the minds of all human beings. One of the outright deceitful acts of Bernays under the umbrella of shaping public opinion was his way of making Guatemala look like a communist threat to the US and overthrowing its government. ADAM CURTIS has made a number of political-historical documentary series for the BBC. So Eddie began to formulate this idea that you had to look at things that will play to people's irrational emotions. Or do you? By focusing on the Freud family and certain other individuals, it suggests that these people had an agenda and it was up to them to trigger the events that took place. He showed American corporations for the first time how to they could make people want things they didn't need by linking mass produced goods to their unconscious desires. The most eloquent example is of course the crisis of 2008, which is obviously out of the scope of current film. Out of this would come a new political idea of how to control the masses. saw it as terrible evidence of the truth of his findings. The Totem is seen as sacred and must be protected. If one steps back and looks at what freedom actually means in the West today, it's a strange and limited kind of freedom. Regan and Thatcher both got into power because they appealed to the inner directives group, who could not be identified with traditional methods as they were part of all social classes and demographic groups. And thats where business had to reinvent itself. I dont wish to force anyone to watch it, but I do highly recommend it. The conformity and mass-marketing of the 1950s reflect this view of a public that cannot be trusted to think for itself. To me the key is solving a real problem that really improves someones life as opposed to making them believe that it does. However, Bernays associated it with gender equality (torches of freedom) and it took off like wildfire. Sigmund Freuds nephew, Edward Bernays, invented the field of public relations, using his uncle's theories in commerce to increase sales. The information bombardment on social media is loaded with them. opponents of Freud's theories. Bernays' parents had emigrated to America 20, to return to Europe for a very different reason. politicians have used this during the last 100 years for their engineering of consent. His daughter Anna Freud, a pioneer of child psychology, is mentioned in part two. documentary describes the impact of Freud's theories on the perception This series is about how those in power have used Freud's theories to & Wikepedia/ Google. "Century of the Self" highlights how the trend of exploiting the public's unconscious desires has been adopted by politicians, among others. Episodes. Adems, nos las muestra fuera de su rea tradicional de aplicacin, como es la clnica, as nos vamos a otros campos como son la poltica, la mercadotecnia, movimientos sociales, etc. His most notorious coup was breaking the taboo on women smoking by persuading them that cigarettes were a symbol of independence and freedom. He wrote a book called Civilization and it's Discontents. Freud regarded case studies like Little Hans, and Anna as firm empirical support for his theory, and thought his belief in determinism and detailed collection of data. Bernays, an American propagandist in WWI, applied his wartime experience and his uncles theories of the unconscious to peacetime commerce. Carl Rogers and Sigmund Freud built theories that are useful and still applied in the field today, with great probability they will ever outlive their usefulness. Even if you didnt learn any new facts from it (you will), it would be worth watching just for the way it connects the dots. Business was eager to help. He wondered whether he might be able to. Out of this grew a new culture of public relations and marketing in politics, business and journalism. The programme explores how those in power in post-war America used Freud's ideas about the unconscious mind to try and control the masses. as he watched the crowd surge around Wilson, Edward Bernays - 1991: When I came back to the United States I decided that if you could, use propaganda for war you could certainly use, bad word because of the Germans using it. Wilhelm Reich, an opponent of Freud's theories, is discussed in part three. Uploaded by The politicians believed they were creating a new and better form of democracy, one that truly responded to the inner feelings of individual. Back in the mid-1970s, it was novel and slightly jarring when gasoline companies ran ads not (directly) to sell gas, but to improve their corporate image. The drugs may cloud your memory for events. Products will be sold. Rogers theory, the theory known as the person-centered theory, is well known and his work is invaluable to todays discoveries. Pr had designed to transcript request for an expertise in movies, but if a century. Freuds contributions are rarely referred to today in specialized psychology classes and departments, but most undergraduate and general psychology programs teach concepts that are common to Freuds central perspectives about the unconscious mind. documentary describes the impact of Freud's theories on the perception Without these two revered individuals, it is possible that psychology would be viewed in a different perspective. Amazingly enough, at the root of this change was Sigmund Freuds nephew, Edward Bernays. Both New Labour with Tony Blair and the Democrats led by Bill Clinton, used the focus group which had been invented by psychoanalysts in order to regain power. The Century of the Self (Full Documentary) - YouTube 0:00 / 3:54:44 The Century of the Self (Full Documentary) David Lessig 12.3K subscribers 39K Share 3.1M views 7 years ago Adam Curtis. I feel that to paint an accurate image of the entanglement of capitalism and democracy of the 20th century, externalities should be mentioned, which the documentary fails to do. Freud is to psychology as Newton is to physics. The United States and its empire self-describe fighting the Cold War for "individual freedom," yet it is still something that the leaders of . What did Freud think about the idea of the equality of man? But what they perhaps didnt realise was that the aim of those who had originally created these techniques had not been to liberate people, but to develop a new way of controlling them. Yet by the early 1970s, the signature unkempt long hair became a style featured in fashion magazines and offered in hair salons, and blowdryers were widely sold to cater to this new look. To do this, they turned to the techniques developed by Freudian psychoanalysts, to manipulate the inner desires of the new self. There was four differences are institutions throughout its a grander vision not going back on the day this century of self transcript requests. No one even tries. Then books appeared and influencers spoke up against psychoanalysts saying that the system they helped build was based on planned obsolescence and helped a small elite to get rich by exploiting and controlling the masses through the manufacturing of products that repressed and fulfilled their hidden desires. The first three episodes showed how business learned to read consumers desires and sell them products that satisfied them. The saddest thing he wrote, that this, United States. Bernays is almost completely unknown today but his influence on the 20th century was nearly as great as his uncles. Instead Freud argued civilization had been constructed to control the dangerous animal forces inside human beings. The Century Of The Self ( Part 2) by onderkoffer Topics SOCIAL ENGENEERING, FREUD, NWO The Engineering of Consent. Freud's daughter Anna Freud, a pioneer of child psychology, is Part 3 There is a Policeman Inside All Our Heads, He Must Be Destroyed, Part 4 Eight People Sipping Wine in Kettering. The Century of Self by Adam Curtis discusses the emergence and rise of psychoanalysis as a pivotal means of persuasion for corporations and governments. As the Borg say: You will be assimilated. There is simply a profit motive and there are advanced techniques to read people and give them what they (dont even know they) want. Psychoanalysts like Dichter trained corporations to identify and exploit peoples fears and desires. The ethical implications of powerful social institutions exerting covert influence are only telegraphed in the documentary; they deserve a detailed analysis in their own right. Since the end of the, 19th century, America had become a mass industrial society, together in the cities. The experiment seemed to have worked, but decades later all the problems resurfaced and several of the then grown up children committed suicide. However, this theory has proven to be one of the most influential forces in the twentieth century. He though that sexual energy had to be expressed freely to be healthy and that humans are inherently good, but the society that wanted to repress their inner energies made them sick and dangerous. To live a good life, you need to work for things bigger than yourself. | His nephew, Edward Bernays, put his theory to practice and got to work to build a social structure that controls the masses that could not be trusted to control themselves and would pose a threat otherwise. superficiality. It gives you an explanation to why the world is the way it is today and how human nature shaped it in the past century. the century of the self transcript . The Century Of The Self ( Part 1) by onderkoffer Topics social engeneering, freud Happiness Machines. Over time and during the reign of many notable psychologists and psychiatrists, theories that were considered new and promising but never proven formed the foundation for new theory exploration and discovery. He is often seen as the father of the public relations industry. consumerism, representative democracy and its implications. Wilhelm Reich believed the opposite. Start Watching. Since the end of the 19th century, America had become a mass industrial society with millions clustered together in the cities. Now of course Freud put that very much into question - you see to, examine yourself you would have to put other. What was implicit in Freud's argument was that the ideal of individual freedom which was at the heart of democracy was impossible. He had discovered he said. The CIA went even further. By the 1980s, expensive, formerly niche products were being avidly marketed to ordinary consumers. The Century of the Self Marketing has changed greatly over the last 100 years. Curtis questions the intentions and origins of this relatively new approach to engaging the public. 2002 film by Adam Curtis. and Edward Bernays. It was this they believed had happened in Russia. My strongest critical point is that it could easily fuel conspiracy theories. Susan Werbe is an independent scholar who for thirty years has pursued her interest in the social, cultural, and political history of early 20th Century England, including a focus on the social . 4 Episodes Available. questions the modern way we see ourselves, the attitude to fashion and It was a mix of historical, social and political analysis of the early 20th . We will keep fighting for all libraries - stand with us! onderkoffer So Eddie began to formulate this idea that you had to look at things that will play to people's irrational emotions. Psychotherapy that strives to encourage social interest: A simulated interview with Alfred Adler. We have a lot more in common with our ape ancestors than we do with the rational beings we like to think we are (not necessarily in the Freudian way though). Sigmund Freud changed the view of the human mind and the way it works. Part one documents the story of the relationship between Sigmund Freud and his American nephew, Edward Bernays who invented Public Relations in the 1920s, being the first person to take Freud's ideas to manipulate the masses. It also Men have long been silent and stoic about their inner lives, but theres every reason for them to open up emotionallyand their partners are helping. The feverish deregulation, privatization and liberalization and the belief that markets were self regulatory and would solve every problem of society lead to suboptimal performances across many domains, growing inequality of wealth distribution and recurring economic crises. Bernays set out to experiment with the minds of the popular classes. Its made up of four parts. Freud had devised a method he called, powerful sexual and aggressive forces which were the remnants of, to our consciousness. - Dr. Alfred Fritz, society. We must shape a new mentality in America. Lehman, M.Div. By satisfying. He didn't believe in it. Primary responsibilities include, but are not limited to: - Performs general clerical duties that . As long as they are used to figure out real needs of people that will improve their lives and allow them to become better versions of themselves, I dont think there is anything wrong with that. Forceswhich if not controlled led individuals and societies to chaos and destruction. Last week's episode showed how Freud's ideas spread throughout America in the 1950s. Weve come to accept that as routine nearly 40 years later. It hasnt always been so. Reviewed by Ekua Hagan. July 2, 2012 6:00pm by Barry Ritholtz. Your email address will not be published. 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