Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds

Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds is a book about the history of popular folly by Charles Mackay. The book chronicles its targets in three parts: “National Delusions,” “Peculiar Follies,” and “Philosophical Delusions.” It attempts to educate the reader as to why intelligent people do amazingly stupid things when caught up in speculative endeavors. It explores how easily we can be misled and how illogically we can think when popular opinion influences us.

Mackay’s central theme in the book is that the tendency of humans to develop a herd mentality which leads individuals in the herd to act and react to various stimuli. The reactions are very similar and predictable and this “madness” leads to a downward spiral with undesirable effects. His book highlights several stories from the history of various manias that took place. There are lessons to be learned from them in the present day. 

Across Western Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries, many witch trials took place. The trials came about because, at the time, bad luck was attributed to supernatural causes. This mass-superstition proved to be extremely dangerous with thousands of innocent people dying as a result of the cases. Many of the trials had very low standards of evidence and often came about as a way to settle old scores between neighbors or acquaintances.

In England, a self-styled “Witch-Finder General” named Matthew Hopkins traveled around East Anglia, making a point of appearing wherever there was an accusation of somebody being a witch. He would assist the judges with his knowledge on witches, leading to them carrying out many miscarriages of justice. He charged a large sum for his services, using the fear of witchcraft, which had spread like wildfire amongst the public, to extort money from the local authorities. He received extra money for identifying a witch and devised tests such as tying the accused’s hands and feet together and putting them in the river. If they sank, they were innocent (but drowned). If they floated, they were deemed to be a witch and burnt at the stake.

Modern-day witch hunts continue to this day. There is evidence of this all around us. From entire groups of people being persecuted in various parts of the world to the online abuse of individuals where the pitchforks have been replaced with keyboards. When a person is accused and identified on social media, there is often no fair trial, no hearing of both sides of the story, and no critical analysis. When sharing information online, we need to be careful, especially if that information condemns or vilifies another individual. Nobody wants to be the target of a witch hunt, but we should also not want to participate in one. This is not a witch hunt.

In an interesting twist to the witch-finder story, the imposter Matthew Hopkins met an untimely death due to his own notoriety, using his own witch-finding method. An angry mob from a village he was visiting believed that to find so many witches, he must have been a wizard who had acquired a book from Satan. The book listed all the names of the so-called witches and he was therefore working with the devil. He was thrown in the river and tested using his own method. Some say that he sank, others say that he floated and was then tried and executed. What’s sure is that either way, he met his demise at the hands of the angry mob.

Today’s blog is about “Hating Dave Roberts Mania and Why You Should Seek Help“. I have kidded about that in the past, but I am not kidding today. I know very few of the people on this blog, but there are a few who spew hatred of Dave Roberts as if they are Racists against persons of Black and Asian descent. Of course, Dave Roberts is both, having an Asian mother and a Black father. The vitriol that they spew is both irrational and dangerous.

No matter what Dave Roberts does, it is wrong, but sometimes he gets away with it and he wins in spite of himself. That is what they believe and if the Dodgers win, it is in spite of Dave Roberts and if they lose it is because of Dave Roberts. Last night, the Mets were the recipients of some bloop, soft contact, lucky hits. It happens in baseball, but some morons (yes, you are morons) have such an irrational hatred of Dave Roberts that they create scenarios in their small minds to blame everything on him.

Look, Dave Roberts makes plenty of mistakes. We all do. Every manager has, does, and will continue to do so. However, in the instant case of Dave Roberts, to continually criticize him brands you as a Racist, a fool, a mental midget, a deranged person, or maybe all of the above. It’s hard to hear such drivel, over-and-over-and-over-and-over. You don’t have to like Dave Roberts. I have no desire to meet him. I had a desire to meet Tommy Lasorda and I did. Dave Roberts? Nah!

However, he has the highest winning percentage of any active manager and is #2 on the all-time list, with a .612 winning percentage. Of course, you will say that it’s is because he has such a good team. You evidently believe that if it weren’t for his stupidity the Dodger would win 162 games! As if no other manager had such a great team?

I am not saying you cannot criticize Dave Roberts, but when all you do is criticize the guy ad nauseum, it gets old very quickly and screams “I need mental help!” Now, I get that second-guessing baseball moves is a National Pastime to some, but Damn… Every Move? That is a compulsion or sickness. Maybe I have a different viewpoint because I run a multi-million (not billion) dollar company. I understand how easy it is to criticize moves I make from the “cheap seats.” Everyone is an expert… or so they think!

However, if you do decide that you will want to criticize Dave Robert’s every move, I suggest that you get a tattoo… so that we can all understand where you are coming from. If not, seek help!

Have a nice day!

Dodger News

• I am sure that Mookie Betts has the best physicians, but there are miniminally invasive arthroscopic options for hip bone spurs that could be performed and have him ready fpr the playoffs… maybe! Of course, one of the leading causes of bone supurs is the onset of arthritis, but that is not always true. I really doubt they do anything until after the saeson, but it does not look promising for him THIS year.
• V-Gone could be back this weekend, as could Gavin Lux.
• Justin Yurchak who hit .356 at Great Lakes is now hitting .432 with a .479 OB% and a 1.116 OPS at Tulsa. The 24-year-old LH 1B acts like he wants to get his ticked punched at The Show.
• Gus Varland pitched 3 innings and allowed 1 hit last night at Tulsa.
• 6′ 7″ Mark Washington pitchd 2 scoreless innings for Tulsa and struck out 4. He has a 2.31 ERA.