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We may imagine that so-called normal people could never believe in anything so ludicrous as the delusional systems of the insane. Yet historical evidence suggests the opposite. Whole societies have been persuaded without much difficulty to accept the most absurd calumnies about minority groups (e.g., witches, heretics, Jews, 'enemies of the people') portrayed as enemies of the majority.
Such accusations, Storr (1991) claims, originate from a particular type of fantasy which is comparable with, indeed equivalent to, paranoid delusions of the kind found in psychotic subjects.
From: THE 'EVIL' MIND: Pt. 1: GENOCIDE AND MASS KILLINGS.
Johan M.G. van der Dennen
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