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Extraordinary Popular Delusions and The Madness of Crowds #1
Extraordinary Popular Delusions and The Madness of Crowds, Volume 1
The object of the author in the following pages has been to collect the most remarkable instances of those moral epidemics which have been excited, and to show how easily the masses have been led astray. Contents: the Mississippi scheme, the south-sea bubble, the tulipomania, the alchemists, modern prophecies, fortunetelling, the magnetizers, influence of politics and religion on the hair and beard, the crusaders, the witch mania, the slow poisoners, haunted houses, popular follies of great cities, popular admiration of great thieves, duels and ordeals, relics. Illustrated with engravings.
744 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1841
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About the author
Charles Mackay
648 books148 followersCharles Mackay was a Scottish poet, journalist, author, anthologist, novelist, and songwriter, remembered mainly for his book Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds.
Mackay became a journalist in London: in 1834 he was an occasional contributor to The Sun. From the spring of 1835 till 1844 he was assistant sub-editor of the Morning Chronicle. In the autumn of 1839 he spent a month's holiday in Scotland, witnessing the Eglintoun Tournament, which he described in the Chronicle, and making acquaintances in Edinburgh. In the autumn of 1844, he moved to Scotland, and became editor of the Glasgow Argus, resigning in 1847. He worked for the Illustrated London News in 1848, becoming editor in 1852.
Mackay published Songs and Poems (1834), a History of London, The Thames and its Tributaries or, Rambles Among the Rivers (1840), Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds (1841), and a romance entitled Longbeard. He is also remembered for his Gaelic Etymology of the Languages of Western Europe and the later Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
His daughter was English novelist and mystic Marie Corelli.
Mackay became a journalist in London: in 1834 he was an occasional contributor to The Sun. From the spring of 1835 till 1844 he was assistant sub-editor of the Morning Chronicle. In the autumn of 1839 he spent a month's holiday in Scotland, witnessing the Eglintoun Tournament, which he described in the Chronicle, and making acquaintances in Edinburgh. In the autumn of 1844, he moved to Scotland, and became editor of the Glasgow Argus, resigning in 1847. He worked for the Illustrated London News in 1848, becoming editor in 1852.
Mackay published Songs and Poems (1834), a History of London, The Thames and its Tributaries or, Rambles Among the Rivers (1840), Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds (1841), and a romance entitled Longbeard. He is also remembered for his Gaelic Etymology of the Languages of Western Europe and the later Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
His daughter was English novelist and mystic Marie Corelli.
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April 28, 2024
The Bible verse my father most frequently quoted throughout my childhood was:
"What has been will be again,
and what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun." Ecclesiastes 1:9
This book exemplifies that verse, as the historical lessons discussed in this book about the contagiousness of bad ideas and how they can spread and stick in the popular consciousness apply just the same to modern examples like Ponzi schemes, snake oil, bitcoin, NFTs, and even internet memes.
Mackay directly addresses specific topics with thorough descriptions and analysis, including astrology, alchemy, investment fraud, wildcat currencies, magnet healers, fortune tellers, poisoners, haunted houses, fad slang phrases, the popularity of successful thieves, duels, ordeals, and relics. He takes a much more moralistic view than a modern historian would, discussing who was culpable for the worst frauds, and to what degree. He also expresses a lot of views that from a modern reader's perspective (mine) are racist, sexist, and homophobic, but that isn't unexpected from a man of his time.
My favorite portion of the book examined the motives and public fervor surrounding the Crusades, mostly by examining the firsthand accounts of witnesses. I've mostly read about the Crusades from the perspective of more modern historians, who don't have the same interest in the religious fervor of the common people as Mackay did. I don't think that I had read before about the ways that holdouts in a community who refused to produce funds or themselves set out on a crusade were publicly shamed (for example, being called to a public presentation of gifts where they were given distaffs, knitting needles, and the like as a sign of their cowardice.) He also mentions that one motive for some people was that the belligerents were promised "remission of all their sins on their arrival in Palestine" and this led to widespread acceptable of otherwise taboo behavior among those going crusading.
Overall, I enjoyed reading this book, and recommend it to anyone who'd like to get an insight into the historical perspective on popular widespread misapprehensions and scams.
"What has been will be again,
and what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun." Ecclesiastes 1:9
This book exemplifies that verse, as the historical lessons discussed in this book about the contagiousness of bad ideas and how they can spread and stick in the popular consciousness apply just the same to modern examples like Ponzi schemes, snake oil, bitcoin, NFTs, and even internet memes.
Mackay directly addresses specific topics with thorough descriptions and analysis, including astrology, alchemy, investment fraud, wildcat currencies, magnet healers, fortune tellers, poisoners, haunted houses, fad slang phrases, the popularity of successful thieves, duels, ordeals, and relics. He takes a much more moralistic view than a modern historian would, discussing who was culpable for the worst frauds, and to what degree. He also expresses a lot of views that from a modern reader's perspective (mine) are racist, sexist, and homophobic, but that isn't unexpected from a man of his time.
My favorite portion of the book examined the motives and public fervor surrounding the Crusades, mostly by examining the firsthand accounts of witnesses. I've mostly read about the Crusades from the perspective of more modern historians, who don't have the same interest in the religious fervor of the common people as Mackay did. I don't think that I had read before about the ways that holdouts in a community who refused to produce funds or themselves set out on a crusade were publicly shamed (for example, being called to a public presentation of gifts where they were given distaffs, knitting needles, and the like as a sign of their cowardice.) He also mentions that one motive for some people was that the belligerents were promised "remission of all their sins on their arrival in Palestine" and this led to widespread acceptable of otherwise taboo behavior among those going crusading.
Overall, I enjoyed reading this book, and recommend it to anyone who'd like to get an insight into the historical perspective on popular widespread misapprehensions and scams.
January 7, 2022
Buku ini terbahagi kepada 3 jilid dan ini merupakan reviu bagi yang pertama.
Dalam jilid yang satu ini sahaja ada 12 bab yang membicarakan tentang pendayaan atau penipuan diri sendiri (delusi) masyarakat awam, pemimpin dan segenap ruang politik, khususnya Eropah yang penulis catatkan.
Penulis memulakan bicaranya di setiap bab dengan satu tanggapan umum tentang hal ini, yang saya kira sangat baik bagi pendahuluan setiap bab yang berbeza delusinya, namun masih mempunyai sisi yang sama. Hal ini (diatas) juga kerana penulisan sejarahnya (exposition) adalah panjang (walaupun ada yang hanya sebagai pemula) dan sisi pandang yang beliau catatkan di awal bab dan diantaranya adalah initipati yang wajar digunapakai sebagai satu kaca mata dalam menanggapi tulisannya.
Bab pertama (i) Mississippi Scheme membicarakan delusi orang Perancis berikutan krisis kredit yang ‘mereka sendiri’ mulakan. Awalannya, seorang orang Scotland bernama John Law, yang mahir dalam prinsip kewangan dan perdagangan telah melarikan diri dari England setelah membunuh seorang lelaki dalam satu pertarungan (duel, yang akan dibicarakan dalam bab Duels and Ordeals) ke Perancis. Beliau, yang digelar Monsieur Lass oleh orang Perancis telah mencadangkan penubuhan bank dengan wang kertas bagi menggantikan mata wang logam (metallic currency), hasil dari penulisanya dalam satu karyanya, “Proposals and Reasons for Constituting a Council of Trade” yang ditulis di Edinburgh; setelah Perancis sewaktu itu mengalami krisis kewangan dan hampir diisytiharkan bankrup. Sebelum menerima cadangan John Law, mereka asalnya mengadakan polisi penukaran emas dan perak ke logam (recoinage), dengan nilaian yang sama tapi seperlima dari beratnya. Disebabkan ini, setelah beliau dan abangnya, William Law menubuhkan banknya, John Law and Company, wang kertas keluarannya adalah lebih berharga dari polisi asal kerajaan. Hal inilah yang menarik minat sebahagian besar rakyat untuk berebut-rebut untuk membelinya. Setelah semua menggila untuk memilikinya, mereka tidak menyedari sifat wang kertas yang tidak kukuh asasnya, yakni tidak bernilai jika tidak terikat kepada sesuatu; yang akhirnya akan merosot. Setelah dilarang dengan perintah Parlimen untuk masuk campur dalam urusan kewangan, beliau kemudiannya memfokuskan kepada projek Mississippi-nya yang syarikatnya, The Mississippi Company diberi hak istimewa untuk berdagang di India Timur, Cina dan wilayah-wilyah di South Seas (Afrika dan Amerika Selatan). Nah, disinilah mulanya segala kegila-gilaan masyarakat. Sewaktu berkembang pesat pelaburannya, mereka berebut-rebut, namun selepas beberapa ketika, wang dan saham yang dijualnya langsung tidak berharga dari mata wang logam yang pernah mereka miliki. Dua situasi timbul dari hal ini; pertama mereka memburu John Law untuk membalas bahana yang telah dicetuskannya dan kedua, mereka bermati-matian (ya, secara literalnya, kerana ramai yang mati dihempap) untuk ke bank setiap hari untuk menukar kembali wang mereka.
Walaubagaimanapun, ada beberapa bahagian yang saya kurang faham, khususnya bagaimana insiden-insiden yang berlaku membawa kepada revolusi Perancis kemudiannya. Barangkali, selepas diteliti The Coming of the French Revolution dan The Coming of the Terror in the French Revolution akan lebih menangkap kisahnya.
Bab kedua (ii) The South Sea Bubble pula memperlihatkan kegilaan yang hampir sama, namun kurang sedikit kesannya kepada negara England. Intipatinya sama, seperti yang dinukilkan oleh Ahli Parlimen, Broderick dalam suratnya kepada Lord Chancellor Middleton, bagaimana tidak masuk akal sepuluh juta nilai semasa kewangan (cash) boleh menjadi dua ratus juta, setelah krisis itu membarah; walaupun beliau dari awal telah memberikan amaran, yang seperti dijangkakan, tidak diendahkan ramai, termasuk ahli parlimen lain disebabkan delusi mereka untuk mengaut kekayaan. Penulis merumuskan bab ini dengan baik sekali: “In times of great commercial prosperity, there has been a tendency to over-speculation on several ocassions since then. The success of one project generally produces others of a similar kind. Popular imitativeness will always, in a trading nation, seize hold of such successes, and drag a community too anxious for profits into an abyss from which extrication is difficult.”
Bab ketiga pula (iii) Tulipomania membicarakan delusi orang awam terhadap pemilikan bunga tulip yang berasal dari Turki. Turut sama terkena penyakit ini adalah orang Inggeris, yang asalnya mempunyai kebanggaan terhadap bunga ros, yang dikatakan mempunyai ciri-ciri yang lebih istimewa berbanding bunga tulip itu. Disebabkan perebutan mereka, seperti kasus sebelum ini, harganya naik melambung tinggi sebelum jatuh mendadak dan menderitalah mereka yang beriya-iya memilikinya.
Dalam bab seterusnya; (iv) Relics dibicarakan masyarakat awam yang tergila-gila ingin mengumpulkan apa yang dikira bertuah dari bekas kepunyaan manusia. Hal ini termasuklah rambut orang tertentu, tulang-belulang wali-wali malahan tali gantung seorang yang telah mati dengannya. Turut sama terkena badi ini adalah kubur perwira-perwira (Knights), yang jika tidak dikawal rapi, habis segala isi dan rangkanya dibawa lari! Kepersonaan ini diragui, kerana seperti coretan penulis, dari mana dan bagaimana ia diperoleh; khususnya benda-benda yang tidak tahan lama seperti air mata dan kuku seseorang tokoh. Diperihalkan misalan yang pelbagai mengenai hal ini dalam bab ini.
Lanjutan dari bab itu, kemudiannya kita bertemu pula dengan bab (v) Modern Prophecies, yang membicarakan tentang takwilan-takwilan terhadap tanda-tanda (kiamat contohnya) dan nabi-nabi palsu. Apa yang menariknya, kegilaan masyarakat semasa itu, sangat tidak masuk dek akal. Misalnya, bila dikatakan kota mereka di London, Jerman dll dikatakan akan musnah, maka setiap guguran tahi bintang, guruh dan panahan petir menjadi satu kekacauan dan berlari mereka ke tempat dikatakan penyelamat mereka (saviour) akan turun, yakni di Jurusalem. Misalan lain pula di England, mereka sanggup meninggalkan rumah dan kota mereka dan pindah ke kawasan luar bandar hanya kerana seorang tukang tilik meramalkan kota akan tenggelam pada waktu dan tarikh tertentu. Walaupun pada mulanya ada sebilangan kecil yang meragui hal ini, namun hampir sahaja dengan waktu yang dikatakan itu, mereka juga hilang pertimbangan dan menyertai yang lain-lain. Setelah (ramalan) terbukti salah, boleh pula si anu tersebut menyelamatkan diri dengan mengatakan bahawa dia tersilap tarikh!
Kalau Nassim Taleb hidup dizaman itu, habis teruk mereka ini dibantai!
Bab (vii) pula tidak kurang anehnya. Bab Influence of Politics and Religion on the (Long) Hair and Beard menggambarkan keadaan dimana berambut panjang dan berjanggut di Eropah adalah satu kepelikan dan merupakan ciri-ciri orang liar tidak bertamadun (savagery); namun bagi rakyat kebanyakan awalannya. Ia asalnya merupakan ciri istimewa golongan feudal, dan rakyat biasa yang memilikinya akan dihukum bunuh. Huh! Namun, ini tidak bertahan lama, kerana suatu ketika golongan paderi ‘bermimipi’ akan tanda-tanda dan mendesak raja-raja membuangnya. Malah, sebelum rakyat biasa dibuang rambut panjangnya, mereka disuruh kembali kepada agama dan bertaubat dengan sedeqah dan doa.
“A man’s locks were the symbol of his creed, both in politics and religion. The more abundant the hair, the more scant the faith; and the balder the head the more sincere the piety.”
Di Rusia, lain pula ceritanya, apabila mereka yang masih ingin berambut panjang, disuruh membayar cukai setiap kali melalui pintu kota. Fenomena ini beransur hilang seperti catatan penulis; “The vatican troubles itself no more about beards or ringlets, and men may become as hairy as bears, if such is their fancy, without fear of excommununication or deprivation of their political rights.”
Bab Duels and Ordeals pula adalah satu gambaran zaman dimana pertempuran senjata (pedang dan tombak khususnya) dijadikan satu adat kebiasaan. Sesiapa sahaja yang tidak berpuas hati dengan seseorang, akan mengajaknya bertempur (sehingga mati). Sesiapa sahaja yang difitnah, untuk mempertahankan maruah dan air muka, prosiding keadilannya adalah dengan bertempur, sehingga mati. Malah hampir semua kes sivil dan jenayah semasa itu begitulah keadaannya. Dengan kemenangan, dia dikira tidak bersalah dan si penuduh adalah pemfitnah, begitu juga sebaliknya!
“t an earlier period, in Germany, it was held highly disgraceful to refuse to a fight. Any one who surrendered to his adversary for a simple wound that did not disable him, was reputed infamous, and could neither cut his beard, bear arms, mount on horseback, or hold any Office in the state. He who fell in a duel was buried with great plomp and splendour.”
Dan kadangkala juga, pertempuran adalah berpunca dari benda-benda remeh.
“If an examination were made into the general causes which produced them, it would be found that in every case they had been either of the most trivial or the most unworthy nature”.
Gaduh pasal itik, anjing bergaduh, hutang sewa ataupun pelacur yang disukai!
Serupa juga dalam perbicaraan mahkamah lain. Ada pula paderi-paderi menentukan hukum dengan mengambil kayu dari bekas, malah seperti hukuman kepada ‘ahli sihir’, mereka dikenakan hukuman lemas. Jika mati lemas, maka mereka sebenarnya tidak bersalah; jika tidak lemas walaupun diikat, mereka bersalah dan dihukum mati (juga).
Logik apakah ini!
Bab Witchomania dalam Jilid dua lebih mendalam akan hal ini.
Namun, diakhir-akhir pula, si pencabar pertempuran dan penerima pula dihukum bersalah : digantung tiga tahun dari menjawat jawatan awam, ditambah dua tahun penjara dan diperintah membayar denda setengah dari gaji setahunnya.
Kemudian, disambung dengan bab The Love of the Marvellous and the Disbelief of the True yang saya kira antara bab terbaik dalam buku ini. Dianalogikan kisah seorang wanita yang apabila anaknya, yang merupakan seorang pelayar, menceritakan berjumpa ikan terbang, dia tidak mempercayainya tetapi apabila diperihalkan kapten kapal berjumpa emas dan harta dari Laut Merah, terus dia mempercayainya dan bersungguh untuk tidak mahu mendengar lagi kisah ikan terbang! “..because the Divine contain no allusion to it, or because, at first sight, it appears to militate, not against religion, but against some obscure passage which has never been fairly interpreted. The old women in the story could not believe that there was such a creature as a flying-fish, because her Bible did not tell her so, but she believed that her son had drown up the golden and bejewelled wheel from the Red Sea, because her Bible informed her that Pharaoh was drowned there.”.
Kisah ini, yang mungkin tidak benar, adalah satu analogi baik dalam merungkai kepercayaan tidak berasas sesuatu kelompok dan penolakan buta terhadap kebenaran. Tidakkah hal yang sama dalam kes vaksinasi? “That vaccination could abate the virulence of, or preserve from, the smallpox, was quite incredible; none but a cheat and a quack could assert it: but that the introduction of the vaccine matter into human frame could endow men with the qualities of a cow, was quite probable.”. Seperti catatan penulis, disebabkan perkara sebeginilah ahli-ahli sains dikeji, dihukum sebagai ahli sihir dan dikatakan cuba melawan kedaulatan (hakimiah) si Pencipta. “The very same principle which leads to the rejection of the true, leads to the encouragement of the false. Thus, we may account for the success which has attended great impostors, at times when the truth, though not half so wondrous as their impositions, has been disregarded as extravagant and preposterous.”
Dalam bab seterusnya, () Popular Folies in Great Cities, dibicarakan pula tentang perkara-perkara yang menjadi trend bagi masyarakat. Perkataan seperti “What a shocking bad hat!” sebagai ganti salam kepada orang lain, “Quoz” (bagi setiap perkara) adalah menakjubkan melihatkan kekaguman masyarakat terhadap perkara remeh. Namun, sepertimana dijangka, ia hanyalah kekaguman sementara.
“But, like all other earthly things, Quoz had its seasons, and passed away as suddenly as it arose, never again to be the pet and the idol of the populace. A new claimant drove it from its place, and held undisputed sway till, in its turn, it was hurled from its pre-eminence, and a successor appointed in its stead.”. Penulis merakamkan perkara ini dengan tuntas, “The sober part of the community were as much puzzled by this unaccountable saying (There he goes with his eyes out!) as the vulgar were delighted with it. The wise thought it very foolish, but the many thought it very funny, and the idle amused themselves by chalking it upon walls, or scribbling it upon monumnets.” Termasuk juga dalam menjawab atau menghina orang lain, ada saja cara tertentu yang direka-reka. “It was next thought the height of vulgar wit to answer all questions by placing the point of the thumb upon the tip of the nose, and twirling the fingers in the air. If one man wished to insult or annoy another, he had only to make use of this cabalistic sign in his face, and his object was accomplished. At every street corner where a group was assembled, the spectator who was curious enough to observe their movements, would be sure to see the fingers of some of them at their noses, either as a mark of incredulity, surprise, refusal, or mockery, before he had watched two minutes. There is some remnant of this absurd custom to be seen to this day, but it is thought low, even among the vulgar.”
Kegilaan terakhir dalam jilid ini ditutup dengan bab The Thugs, or Phansigars. Mereka ini adalah segolongan orang, yang digelar Thug atau Phansigar, di India, yang membunuh manusia -tanpa mengira lelaki, perempuan mahupun kanak-kanak- untuk kepentingan harta dan/atau kepercayaan mereka kepada dewa-dewi. “When there were no more (race of demons) to slay, the two men sought the great goddess (Bhawanee, Kalee, or Davee : The goddess of the Thugs), in order to return the handkerchiefs (which is given by the goddess initially). The grateful Bhawanee desired that they would retain them, as memorials of their heroic deeds; and in order that they might never lose the dexterity that they have acquired in using them, she commanded that, from thenceforward, they should strangle men. These were the two first Thugs, and from them the whole race have descended. ”
Huh, sesuka hati berterusan membunuh manusia atas nama Agama!
“When religion teaches men to go astray, they go far astray indeed!”
Meskipun ada di antara mereka yang berasal dari golongan yang berkedudukan, namun selalunya, setelah terkena ‘sumpahan’ ini, mereka sukar untuk berhenti dari melakukannya. Kata seorang Thug “We all feel pity sometimes, but the goor of the Tuponee (sugar sacrifice after a murder) changes our nature; it would change the nature of a horse. Let any man once taste of that goor, and he will be a Thug, though he know all the trades and have all the wealth in the world… I have been in high office myself, and became so great a favourite wherever I went that I was sure of promotion; yet I was always miserable when absent from my gang, and obliged to return to Thuggee. My father made me taste of that fatal goor, when I was a mere boy; and if I were to live a thousand years, I should never be able to follow any other trade.”
Dalam jilid yang satu ini sahaja ada 12 bab yang membicarakan tentang pendayaan atau penipuan diri sendiri (delusi) masyarakat awam, pemimpin dan segenap ruang politik, khususnya Eropah yang penulis catatkan.
Penulis memulakan bicaranya di setiap bab dengan satu tanggapan umum tentang hal ini, yang saya kira sangat baik bagi pendahuluan setiap bab yang berbeza delusinya, namun masih mempunyai sisi yang sama. Hal ini (diatas) juga kerana penulisan sejarahnya (exposition) adalah panjang (walaupun ada yang hanya sebagai pemula) dan sisi pandang yang beliau catatkan di awal bab dan diantaranya adalah initipati yang wajar digunapakai sebagai satu kaca mata dalam menanggapi tulisannya.
Bab pertama (i) Mississippi Scheme membicarakan delusi orang Perancis berikutan krisis kredit yang ‘mereka sendiri’ mulakan. Awalannya, seorang orang Scotland bernama John Law, yang mahir dalam prinsip kewangan dan perdagangan telah melarikan diri dari England setelah membunuh seorang lelaki dalam satu pertarungan (duel, yang akan dibicarakan dalam bab Duels and Ordeals) ke Perancis. Beliau, yang digelar Monsieur Lass oleh orang Perancis telah mencadangkan penubuhan bank dengan wang kertas bagi menggantikan mata wang logam (metallic currency), hasil dari penulisanya dalam satu karyanya, “Proposals and Reasons for Constituting a Council of Trade” yang ditulis di Edinburgh; setelah Perancis sewaktu itu mengalami krisis kewangan dan hampir diisytiharkan bankrup. Sebelum menerima cadangan John Law, mereka asalnya mengadakan polisi penukaran emas dan perak ke logam (recoinage), dengan nilaian yang sama tapi seperlima dari beratnya. Disebabkan ini, setelah beliau dan abangnya, William Law menubuhkan banknya, John Law and Company, wang kertas keluarannya adalah lebih berharga dari polisi asal kerajaan. Hal inilah yang menarik minat sebahagian besar rakyat untuk berebut-rebut untuk membelinya. Setelah semua menggila untuk memilikinya, mereka tidak menyedari sifat wang kertas yang tidak kukuh asasnya, yakni tidak bernilai jika tidak terikat kepada sesuatu; yang akhirnya akan merosot. Setelah dilarang dengan perintah Parlimen untuk masuk campur dalam urusan kewangan, beliau kemudiannya memfokuskan kepada projek Mississippi-nya yang syarikatnya, The Mississippi Company diberi hak istimewa untuk berdagang di India Timur, Cina dan wilayah-wilyah di South Seas (Afrika dan Amerika Selatan). Nah, disinilah mulanya segala kegila-gilaan masyarakat. Sewaktu berkembang pesat pelaburannya, mereka berebut-rebut, namun selepas beberapa ketika, wang dan saham yang dijualnya langsung tidak berharga dari mata wang logam yang pernah mereka miliki. Dua situasi timbul dari hal ini; pertama mereka memburu John Law untuk membalas bahana yang telah dicetuskannya dan kedua, mereka bermati-matian (ya, secara literalnya, kerana ramai yang mati dihempap) untuk ke bank setiap hari untuk menukar kembali wang mereka.
Walaubagaimanapun, ada beberapa bahagian yang saya kurang faham, khususnya bagaimana insiden-insiden yang berlaku membawa kepada revolusi Perancis kemudiannya. Barangkali, selepas diteliti The Coming of the French Revolution dan The Coming of the Terror in the French Revolution akan lebih menangkap kisahnya.
Bab kedua (ii) The South Sea Bubble pula memperlihatkan kegilaan yang hampir sama, namun kurang sedikit kesannya kepada negara England. Intipatinya sama, seperti yang dinukilkan oleh Ahli Parlimen, Broderick dalam suratnya kepada Lord Chancellor Middleton, bagaimana tidak masuk akal sepuluh juta nilai semasa kewangan (cash) boleh menjadi dua ratus juta, setelah krisis itu membarah; walaupun beliau dari awal telah memberikan amaran, yang seperti dijangkakan, tidak diendahkan ramai, termasuk ahli parlimen lain disebabkan delusi mereka untuk mengaut kekayaan. Penulis merumuskan bab ini dengan baik sekali: “In times of great commercial prosperity, there has been a tendency to over-speculation on several ocassions since then. The success of one project generally produces others of a similar kind. Popular imitativeness will always, in a trading nation, seize hold of such successes, and drag a community too anxious for profits into an abyss from which extrication is difficult.”
Bab ketiga pula (iii) Tulipomania membicarakan delusi orang awam terhadap pemilikan bunga tulip yang berasal dari Turki. Turut sama terkena penyakit ini adalah orang Inggeris, yang asalnya mempunyai kebanggaan terhadap bunga ros, yang dikatakan mempunyai ciri-ciri yang lebih istimewa berbanding bunga tulip itu. Disebabkan perebutan mereka, seperti kasus sebelum ini, harganya naik melambung tinggi sebelum jatuh mendadak dan menderitalah mereka yang beriya-iya memilikinya.
Dalam bab seterusnya; (iv) Relics dibicarakan masyarakat awam yang tergila-gila ingin mengumpulkan apa yang dikira bertuah dari bekas kepunyaan manusia. Hal ini termasuklah rambut orang tertentu, tulang-belulang wali-wali malahan tali gantung seorang yang telah mati dengannya. Turut sama terkena badi ini adalah kubur perwira-perwira (Knights), yang jika tidak dikawal rapi, habis segala isi dan rangkanya dibawa lari! Kepersonaan ini diragui, kerana seperti coretan penulis, dari mana dan bagaimana ia diperoleh; khususnya benda-benda yang tidak tahan lama seperti air mata dan kuku seseorang tokoh. Diperihalkan misalan yang pelbagai mengenai hal ini dalam bab ini.
Lanjutan dari bab itu, kemudiannya kita bertemu pula dengan bab (v) Modern Prophecies, yang membicarakan tentang takwilan-takwilan terhadap tanda-tanda (kiamat contohnya) dan nabi-nabi palsu. Apa yang menariknya, kegilaan masyarakat semasa itu, sangat tidak masuk dek akal. Misalnya, bila dikatakan kota mereka di London, Jerman dll dikatakan akan musnah, maka setiap guguran tahi bintang, guruh dan panahan petir menjadi satu kekacauan dan berlari mereka ke tempat dikatakan penyelamat mereka (saviour) akan turun, yakni di Jurusalem. Misalan lain pula di England, mereka sanggup meninggalkan rumah dan kota mereka dan pindah ke kawasan luar bandar hanya kerana seorang tukang tilik meramalkan kota akan tenggelam pada waktu dan tarikh tertentu. Walaupun pada mulanya ada sebilangan kecil yang meragui hal ini, namun hampir sahaja dengan waktu yang dikatakan itu, mereka juga hilang pertimbangan dan menyertai yang lain-lain. Setelah (ramalan) terbukti salah, boleh pula si anu tersebut menyelamatkan diri dengan mengatakan bahawa dia tersilap tarikh!
Kalau Nassim Taleb hidup dizaman itu, habis teruk mereka ini dibantai!
Bab (vii) pula tidak kurang anehnya. Bab Influence of Politics and Religion on the (Long) Hair and Beard menggambarkan keadaan dimana berambut panjang dan berjanggut di Eropah adalah satu kepelikan dan merupakan ciri-ciri orang liar tidak bertamadun (savagery); namun bagi rakyat kebanyakan awalannya. Ia asalnya merupakan ciri istimewa golongan feudal, dan rakyat biasa yang memilikinya akan dihukum bunuh. Huh! Namun, ini tidak bertahan lama, kerana suatu ketika golongan paderi ‘bermimipi’ akan tanda-tanda dan mendesak raja-raja membuangnya. Malah, sebelum rakyat biasa dibuang rambut panjangnya, mereka disuruh kembali kepada agama dan bertaubat dengan sedeqah dan doa.
“A man’s locks were the symbol of his creed, both in politics and religion. The more abundant the hair, the more scant the faith; and the balder the head the more sincere the piety.”
Di Rusia, lain pula ceritanya, apabila mereka yang masih ingin berambut panjang, disuruh membayar cukai setiap kali melalui pintu kota. Fenomena ini beransur hilang seperti catatan penulis; “The vatican troubles itself no more about beards or ringlets, and men may become as hairy as bears, if such is their fancy, without fear of excommununication or deprivation of their political rights.”
Bab Duels and Ordeals pula adalah satu gambaran zaman dimana pertempuran senjata (pedang dan tombak khususnya) dijadikan satu adat kebiasaan. Sesiapa sahaja yang tidak berpuas hati dengan seseorang, akan mengajaknya bertempur (sehingga mati). Sesiapa sahaja yang difitnah, untuk mempertahankan maruah dan air muka, prosiding keadilannya adalah dengan bertempur, sehingga mati. Malah hampir semua kes sivil dan jenayah semasa itu begitulah keadaannya. Dengan kemenangan, dia dikira tidak bersalah dan si penuduh adalah pemfitnah, begitu juga sebaliknya!
“t an earlier period, in Germany, it was held highly disgraceful to refuse to a fight. Any one who surrendered to his adversary for a simple wound that did not disable him, was reputed infamous, and could neither cut his beard, bear arms, mount on horseback, or hold any Office in the state. He who fell in a duel was buried with great plomp and splendour.”
Dan kadangkala juga, pertempuran adalah berpunca dari benda-benda remeh.
“If an examination were made into the general causes which produced them, it would be found that in every case they had been either of the most trivial or the most unworthy nature”.
Gaduh pasal itik, anjing bergaduh, hutang sewa ataupun pelacur yang disukai!
Serupa juga dalam perbicaraan mahkamah lain. Ada pula paderi-paderi menentukan hukum dengan mengambil kayu dari bekas, malah seperti hukuman kepada ‘ahli sihir’, mereka dikenakan hukuman lemas. Jika mati lemas, maka mereka sebenarnya tidak bersalah; jika tidak lemas walaupun diikat, mereka bersalah dan dihukum mati (juga).
Logik apakah ini!
Bab Witchomania dalam Jilid dua lebih mendalam akan hal ini.
Namun, diakhir-akhir pula, si pencabar pertempuran dan penerima pula dihukum bersalah : digantung tiga tahun dari menjawat jawatan awam, ditambah dua tahun penjara dan diperintah membayar denda setengah dari gaji setahunnya.
Kemudian, disambung dengan bab The Love of the Marvellous and the Disbelief of the True yang saya kira antara bab terbaik dalam buku ini. Dianalogikan kisah seorang wanita yang apabila anaknya, yang merupakan seorang pelayar, menceritakan berjumpa ikan terbang, dia tidak mempercayainya tetapi apabila diperihalkan kapten kapal berjumpa emas dan harta dari Laut Merah, terus dia mempercayainya dan bersungguh untuk tidak mahu mendengar lagi kisah ikan terbang! “..because the Divine contain no allusion to it, or because, at first sight, it appears to militate, not against religion, but against some obscure passage which has never been fairly interpreted. The old women in the story could not believe that there was such a creature as a flying-fish, because her Bible did not tell her so, but she believed that her son had drown up the golden and bejewelled wheel from the Red Sea, because her Bible informed her that Pharaoh was drowned there.”.
Kisah ini, yang mungkin tidak benar, adalah satu analogi baik dalam merungkai kepercayaan tidak berasas sesuatu kelompok dan penolakan buta terhadap kebenaran. Tidakkah hal yang sama dalam kes vaksinasi? “That vaccination could abate the virulence of, or preserve from, the smallpox, was quite incredible; none but a cheat and a quack could assert it: but that the introduction of the vaccine matter into human frame could endow men with the qualities of a cow, was quite probable.”. Seperti catatan penulis, disebabkan perkara sebeginilah ahli-ahli sains dikeji, dihukum sebagai ahli sihir dan dikatakan cuba melawan kedaulatan (hakimiah) si Pencipta. “The very same principle which leads to the rejection of the true, leads to the encouragement of the false. Thus, we may account for the success which has attended great impostors, at times when the truth, though not half so wondrous as their impositions, has been disregarded as extravagant and preposterous.”
Dalam bab seterusnya, () Popular Folies in Great Cities, dibicarakan pula tentang perkara-perkara yang menjadi trend bagi masyarakat. Perkataan seperti “What a shocking bad hat!” sebagai ganti salam kepada orang lain, “Quoz” (bagi setiap perkara) adalah menakjubkan melihatkan kekaguman masyarakat terhadap perkara remeh. Namun, sepertimana dijangka, ia hanyalah kekaguman sementara.
“But, like all other earthly things, Quoz had its seasons, and passed away as suddenly as it arose, never again to be the pet and the idol of the populace. A new claimant drove it from its place, and held undisputed sway till, in its turn, it was hurled from its pre-eminence, and a successor appointed in its stead.”. Penulis merakamkan perkara ini dengan tuntas, “The sober part of the community were as much puzzled by this unaccountable saying (There he goes with his eyes out!) as the vulgar were delighted with it. The wise thought it very foolish, but the many thought it very funny, and the idle amused themselves by chalking it upon walls, or scribbling it upon monumnets.” Termasuk juga dalam menjawab atau menghina orang lain, ada saja cara tertentu yang direka-reka. “It was next thought the height of vulgar wit to answer all questions by placing the point of the thumb upon the tip of the nose, and twirling the fingers in the air. If one man wished to insult or annoy another, he had only to make use of this cabalistic sign in his face, and his object was accomplished. At every street corner where a group was assembled, the spectator who was curious enough to observe their movements, would be sure to see the fingers of some of them at their noses, either as a mark of incredulity, surprise, refusal, or mockery, before he had watched two minutes. There is some remnant of this absurd custom to be seen to this day, but it is thought low, even among the vulgar.”
Kegilaan terakhir dalam jilid ini ditutup dengan bab The Thugs, or Phansigars. Mereka ini adalah segolongan orang, yang digelar Thug atau Phansigar, di India, yang membunuh manusia -tanpa mengira lelaki, perempuan mahupun kanak-kanak- untuk kepentingan harta dan/atau kepercayaan mereka kepada dewa-dewi. “When there were no more (race of demons) to slay, the two men sought the great goddess (Bhawanee, Kalee, or Davee : The goddess of the Thugs), in order to return the handkerchiefs (which is given by the goddess initially). The grateful Bhawanee desired that they would retain them, as memorials of their heroic deeds; and in order that they might never lose the dexterity that they have acquired in using them, she commanded that, from thenceforward, they should strangle men. These were the two first Thugs, and from them the whole race have descended. ”
Huh, sesuka hati berterusan membunuh manusia atas nama Agama!
“When religion teaches men to go astray, they go far astray indeed!”
Meskipun ada di antara mereka yang berasal dari golongan yang berkedudukan, namun selalunya, setelah terkena ‘sumpahan’ ini, mereka sukar untuk berhenti dari melakukannya. Kata seorang Thug “We all feel pity sometimes, but the goor of the Tuponee (sugar sacrifice after a murder) changes our nature; it would change the nature of a horse. Let any man once taste of that goor, and he will be a Thug, though he know all the trades and have all the wealth in the world… I have been in high office myself, and became so great a favourite wherever I went that I was sure of promotion; yet I was always miserable when absent from my gang, and obliged to return to Thuggee. My father made me taste of that fatal goor, when I was a mere boy; and if I were to live a thousand years, I should never be able to follow any other trade.”
November 18, 2024
After the 2024 election, my cousin Tony mentioned this book, so I checked it out from the library. Written in 1841 and at 700 pages, it definitely falls into the 'maximum verbosity' camp, so I skimmed some sections. I was more interested in the various topics as an overview than the nitty gritty details of long ago scams.
The author catalogs a wide variety of scams, schemes and popular delusions, clearly demonstrating there have always been scam artists willing to fleece people, and suckers lining up for the privilege. The wealthy are often a target for these schemers, because they can provide funding for projects, but the uneducated are also easily manipulated.
Subjects include the Dutch Tulip mania, the British South Sea bubble and the French Mississippi scheme (where the French government sold shares based on expected profits from the Mississippi territory).
Then a long section on Alchemy and the attempts to turn lead into gold or enable long life. This crosses between actual science being done, and scam artists getting funding based on the gullibility of others. One alchemist spent years trying to decipher the secrets in a Latin document purportedly written by Abraham (who of course never spoke Latin).
Then he segues into prophets and fortune tellers and the fad for using magnets to cure diseases (something you can see even today in ads to improve your golf swing or to get rid of low back pain). For example, Mesmer claimed to have healed a blind woman with magnets. When her family says she was still blind, he said it was her fault she wasn't cured. Then he moved to Paris where he laid young women over magnetic tables and rubbed his hands over their moaning bodies to 'cure' them of disease.
Paracelsus, a practitioner of magnetic healing had this recipe
There is an interesting (and relatively brief) section on the ways changing political and religious times have influenced hair and beard growth for men.
Then a long section on the Crusades, where millions of Europeans traveled to the Holy Land to 'liberate' it, often spending their time raping and pillaging Christian lands along their path, or fighting the Greek Orthodox rulers in Constantinople, never making it to the Holy Land at all. A separate section discussed the medieval trade in relics; with enough slivers of the cross sold to be an entire forest.
Saddest of all was the section on Witchcraft, and the conviction that any old and ugly woman had cursed you when your family got sick or crops failed. Countless women of all ages and some men were caught up in this wave of burnings and drownings, with some 'witch prickers' being paid to identify possible witches in each city or town by pricking suspected witches with pins up to 3 inches, and if they didn't bleed they were a witch. Preachers saw devils everywhere, even as "a duck lurking in the bulrushes, frightening the weary traveler out of his wits by his awful quack"
The author catalogs a wide variety of scams, schemes and popular delusions, clearly demonstrating there have always been scam artists willing to fleece people, and suckers lining up for the privilege. The wealthy are often a target for these schemers, because they can provide funding for projects, but the uneducated are also easily manipulated.
Subjects include the Dutch Tulip mania, the British South Sea bubble and the French Mississippi scheme (where the French government sold shares based on expected profits from the Mississippi territory).
Then a long section on Alchemy and the attempts to turn lead into gold or enable long life. This crosses between actual science being done, and scam artists getting funding based on the gullibility of others. One alchemist spent years trying to decipher the secrets in a Latin document purportedly written by Abraham (who of course never spoke Latin).
Then he segues into prophets and fortune tellers and the fad for using magnets to cure diseases (something you can see even today in ads to improve your golf swing or to get rid of low back pain). For example, Mesmer claimed to have healed a blind woman with magnets. When her family says she was still blind, he said it was her fault she wasn't cured. Then he moved to Paris where he laid young women over magnetic tables and rubbed his hands over their moaning bodies to 'cure' them of disease.
Paracelsus, a practitioner of magnetic healing had this recipe
Take a magnet, impregnated with mummy and mixed with rich earth. In this earth sow some seeds that have a congruity with the disease; then let this earth, well sifted and mixed with mummy be laid in an earthen vessels; and let the seeds be watered daily with a lotion in which the diseased limb or body has been washed. This will the disease be transplanted from the human body to the seeds which are in the earth. As the herbs increase, the disease will diminish; and when they have arrived at their full growth, it will disappear altogether.
There is an interesting (and relatively brief) section on the ways changing political and religious times have influenced hair and beard growth for men.
Then a long section on the Crusades, where millions of Europeans traveled to the Holy Land to 'liberate' it, often spending their time raping and pillaging Christian lands along their path, or fighting the Greek Orthodox rulers in Constantinople, never making it to the Holy Land at all. A separate section discussed the medieval trade in relics; with enough slivers of the cross sold to be an entire forest.
Saddest of all was the section on Witchcraft, and the conviction that any old and ugly woman had cursed you when your family got sick or crops failed. Countless women of all ages and some men were caught up in this wave of burnings and drownings, with some 'witch prickers' being paid to identify possible witches in each city or town by pricking suspected witches with pins up to 3 inches, and if they didn't bleed they were a witch. Preachers saw devils everywhere, even as "a duck lurking in the bulrushes, frightening the weary traveler out of his wits by his awful quack"
February 28, 2024
There are two quotes that really sum up the 'investment' part of the examples that Mackay describes regarding 'popular delusions'
“Visions of ingots danced before their eyes”
and...
“Men were no longer satisfied with the slow but sure profits of cautious industry. The hope of boundless wealth for the morrow made them heedless and extravagant for TODAY. A luxury, till then unheard of, was introduced, bringing in its train a corresponding lack of morals.”
It seems that almost everyone can't resist a 'sure thing' or a 'get rich quick' scheme and based on the examples this has been going on for centuries.
This is a great read for anyone in business or investments or anyone who just wants to understand the psycology of the 'herd'....
“Visions of ingots danced before their eyes”
and...
“Men were no longer satisfied with the slow but sure profits of cautious industry. The hope of boundless wealth for the morrow made them heedless and extravagant for TODAY. A luxury, till then unheard of, was introduced, bringing in its train a corresponding lack of morals.”
It seems that almost everyone can't resist a 'sure thing' or a 'get rich quick' scheme and based on the examples this has been going on for centuries.
This is a great read for anyone in business or investments or anyone who just wants to understand the psycology of the 'herd'....
July 29, 2018
I really enjoyed the "economic chapters" (Mississippi scheme, South Sea Bubble and Tulipomania).
It's funny to see that before bitcoin we had different bubbles to ruin ourselves. Also, it's interesting to read about stock trading in it's early days, when it was resumed to people reunited in a plaza exchanging papers.
The OP Mania story, although isn't a proper delusion of madness, is quite fun to read.
However, I found some chapters uninteresting, like "Modern profecies", "Popular admiration for great thieves and the Thugs).
It's funny to see that before bitcoin we had different bubbles to ruin ourselves. Also, it's interesting to read about stock trading in it's early days, when it was resumed to people reunited in a plaza exchanging papers.
The OP Mania story, although isn't a proper delusion of madness, is quite fun to read.
However, I found some chapters uninteresting, like "Modern profecies", "Popular admiration for great thieves and the Thugs).
January 29, 2021
This book is a primer on the mass hysteria that causes market bubbles, and their subsequent bursts.
Not only markets are affected by the human emotions and mob mentality, however. MacKay also details how witch hunts, alchemists, and fortune tellers were all accelerated by the psychology of crowds.
Not only markets are affected by the human emotions and mob mentality, however. MacKay also details how witch hunts, alchemists, and fortune tellers were all accelerated by the psychology of crowds.
June 14, 2021
Very interesting history of europe from 10th to 18th century
Must read for people who believe history books should be much more about people and their lives than about kings and their conquests
the chapter on Alchemy was too long and repetitive
My fav chapters were the financial bubbles
And the crusades
Must read for people who believe history books should be much more about people and their lives than about kings and their conquests
the chapter on Alchemy was too long and repetitive
My fav chapters were the financial bubbles
And the crusades
January 30, 2019
It was a l-o-n-g read but quite interesting from both a historical and psychological viewpoint overall. I was surprised to discover it was written almost 2 centuries ago as the principles are still valid today - with the IT bubble, cryptocurrency etc.
September 13, 2021
The last section, “Influence of Politics and Religion on the Hair and Beard” was particularly interesting, in the context of the current political (and religious) polarization of mask-wearing, social distancing, and other COVID-19 mitigation strategies.
November 2, 2021
It's an insightful book on "Groupthink" or past manias, including Tulips, Alchemy and investing, particularly relevant in the age of Dogecoin, Crypto, Gamestop, TSLA, and other investment Manias. The stories are decently interesting
August 3, 2017
Poorly organized, rambling, and a bad affected diction which suggests the author wishes he were writing a fantasy novel instead of a non-fiction book.
March 12, 2018
Interesting read
November 4, 2020
This book helps me understand the madness of crowds and affords perspective on the disappointments in our current state of affairs. Humanity changes slowly.
November 8, 2020
Very long read. Not all chapters equally interesting or necessary...
December 16, 2020
Great analysis of the most famous financial bubbles and tulipomania.
July 20, 2025
Very fascinating book, lots of very interesting topics.
January 5, 2026
Fascinating look at trends and crowd behavior through history. Helps understand our current popular fads and scams, such as bitcoin, NFTs, etc.
June 11, 2016
Volume I of Charles Mackay's epic work of pop psychology from the early 19th Century features most saliently economic bubbles and financial manias such as the South Sea Company bubble of 1711–1720, the Mississippi Company bubble of 1719–1720, and (famously) the Dutch tulip mania of the early seventeenth century. According to Mackay, during this bubble, speculators from all walks of life bought and sold tulip bulbs and even futures contracts on them. Allegedly, some tulip bulb varieties briefly became the most expensive objects in the world during 1637. Mackay's accounts are enlivened by colorful, comedic anecdotes, such as the Parisian hunchback who supposedly profited by renting out his hump as a writing desk during the height of the mania surrounding the Mississippi Company. Two modern researchers, Peter Garber and Anne Goldgar, independently conclude that Mackay greatly exaggerated the scale and effects of the Tulip bubble, and Mike Dash, in his modern popular history of the alleged bubble, notes that he believes the importance and extent of the tulip mania were overstated. But, I think Mackay's colorful is maybe fanciful telling has forever cast the shape of this frenzied footnote to Dutch history.
This compendium also feels very modern for scoffing at relic reverence and the chancey justice of Duels and Ordeals.
This compendium also feels very modern for scoffing at relic reverence and the chancey justice of Duels and Ordeals.
November 30, 2016
An interesting book that is made of many distinct segments. I wish he'd drawn a few general conclusions from the examples (what does it take to set a popular delusion off, and what sustains it?). But the particular examples were mostly of interest in their own right--though I'll admit I got bogged down once during the Crusades, and then again in the Witch Hunt.
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