The psychology of doommongering

[BlueBlancmange]

Following on from the thread about the motives of people who doom monger about the future, I have been thinking about why those who engage feel confident it will work.

To be clear, just as on the other thread, I am not talking about people who, for example, realistically state that we likely won't just be totally back to normal by next autumn. While not ideal, this is a perfectly reasonable outlook. I am talking about people who post things like 'People need to accept that this is the way we live now. Anyone who thinks the vaccines won't be rendered totally redundant within 6 months due to the new variants is quite frankly delusional. I'm afraid we need to get used to the idea that we will need to socially distance forever and that life as we knew it is gone'.

This is not the general scientific consensus, yet they post these alarming prognoses in tones of authority and utter certainty.

I assume their underlying thinking is that no normal person would possibly want the future to be like that. Therefore, when people read it, they will assume that someone would only post something that dire if they have carefully weighed up the evidence and been forced to conclude it's the case (sadly). Also, anyone who would not doom monger with the motive to simply upset others (as in most people) is likely to find it hard to imagine that could possible be the motive of anyone else.

Just wondering what others think.

I'm not at all sure they do think it through in that way. I have more than one relative (by blood and by marriage, so it's not just weird genes in my family!) who likes to make a dramatic statement purely for the attention it generates. Even if they are publicly proved wrong within 5 minutes they do not stop doing this.

I think some people perhaps comfort themselves by imagining the worse case senarios and then trying to accept them and by extention writing about it on here in very bleak terms may be a coping device for some. I doubt they are going about in real life saying these things as everyone would think the were mad! I don't even think they believe it they are just acting out on here.

Just because someone has a gloomy view of what the future holds does not mean they are doom-mongering. It is just a different opinion.

@4cats2kids

Just because someone has a gloomy view of what the future holds does not mean they are doom-mongering. It is just a different opinion.

They don't tend to present it as an opinion. They tend to present it as a fact. And that they are exasperated at others' supposed denial in refusing to accept it.

I don’t think most scaremongers intellectually think it out like that. I think some people are super anxious and work themselves up. Some people it’s a combo of being thick/watching a lot of conspiracy type stuff. Some people are naturally negative and enjoy a drama (perhaps some of the last group do think it through, but mostly not I’d say.)

I think for a good percentage its actually wishful thinking. There are people who are really enjoying this, they like the new lifestyle, and/or enjoy the drama of it all.

I think some people are genuinely very scared and their motivation for doom mongering is actually in playing devils advocate and generating lots of positive replies from others which makes them feel a little better.

I’ve caught myself wanting to do this sometimes but haven’t. I think it’s quite a childish impulse - like throwing a tantrum. I had to really stop myself starting a thread called something like “the schools are never going back are they”. I felt so awful in that moment and it seemed true and maybe I thought people would contradict me and I’d feel better. Again childish, wanting someone to say it’ll be alright.

I’ve calmed down to a depressed acceptance for now and the impulse is gone.

Surely some are just trying to provoke a reaction?

Same as at the opposite end of the scale there are posters who announce that from 15th February or whenever they will no longer follow any of the rules...

It's a way of seizing more control of the story (the story we are all living). By perceiving they understand the plot better.

There are social status points to be gained by correctly predicting the future, or 'being in the know' about what happens next. This is part of what makes conspiracy theories popular too.

And attention seeking.

I know some people just work themselves into a state, too. My psychology is definitely hope for the best & prepare for the worst -- so I am drawn to the worst scenarios. I later feel better when the worst doesn't happen, especially in the knowledge that I thought I could cope with the 'worst' anyway.

While some of these people may have reasons to say these things I think there's a solid core of people who routinely delude themselves on many subjects. Some big and some small.

They say "I wonder if X is true" and 20 minutes later they know for a fact it is true. They will leap from "is he having an affair?" to "well since we know he is having an affair" and from "Perhaps someone in the government like Boris Johnson bribed them to do it" to "Since we know that Boris Johnson bribed them to do it...."

Speculation to firmly held belief in just a few minutes and they will be shocked that anyone doubts them as they know these things for a fact.

They may even 'remember' how much the bribe was as they embellish the story in their head. Later they will remember who 'he' is having the affair with and later still will remember where they saw them together.

I don't know how the worst ones function in their daily life. If you can't see reality how can you deal with it.

It's a way of seizing more control of the story (the story we are all living). By perceiving they understand the plot better

There are social status points to be gained by correctly predicting the future, or 'being in the know' about what happens next. This is part of what makes conspiracy theories popular too

Yes. And predicting a highly negative outcome gives the impression of having a greater level of understanding, since there will be the idea that you wouldn't think it otherwise. Whereas if you predict a positive outcome, it can more easily be dismissed as mere wishful thinking.

I have no theories but I rarely encounter people who doommonger about COVID IRL. They’d be accountable, in some way at least, for their opinions which is presumably why it happens more online.

Because they are cunts.

@CarlottaValdez

I’ve caught myself wanting to do this sometimes but haven’t. I think it’s quite a childish impulse - like throwing a tantrum. I had to really stop myself starting a thread called something like “the schools are never going back are they”. I felt so awful in that moment and it seemed true and maybe I thought people would contradict me and I’d feel better. Again childish, wanting someone to say it’ll be alright.

I’ve calmed down to a depressed acceptance for now and the impulse is gone.

But you have written it with a question tag, even if you would have meant it as kind of rhetorical. The people I am talking about never so much hint at there being any doubt. They just confidently assert it as absolute fact.

Tbh I think you're over-complicating people's reasons for this. Some people are pessimists and some are downright drama queens. Some are optimists. Most are probably somewhere in between. That's just what people are like!

Some people enjoy worrying others and making them miserable.

I've come to the conclusion it's as simple as that.

None of us know, how the future will pan out, how are so sure everything will go back to the normal we had? I'm not a doomer, I don't even really care tbh, I don't go or do anything anyway.

If you can convince yourself you KNOW what is going to happen in the future even if that thing is terrifying you often feel better and less anxious than not knowing/being unsure.

I don't think most of them are doing to deliberately scare other people

Psychologists call it ‘negatively bias’.

It is a normal human reaction that was used to ensure survival. Useful if you were a caveman but not so much these days!

“ Our tendency to pay more attention to bad things and overlook good things is likely a result of evolution. Earlier in human history, paying attention to bad, dangerous, and negative threats in the world was literally a matter of life and death. Those who were more attuned to danger and who paid more attention to the bad things around them were more likely to survive.”

So perhaps today on MN people post ‘doom’ in response to the fear of the virus? I don’t know, I’m no psychologist but I do know that an incredible amount of fear is currently around.

Even if it was a survival mechanism what’s the rationale for the endless threads about it.( “ the end is nigh”) if not to infect everyone else. It defies logic actually since we’re not living with all the other diseases that have come and gone through history. And they do state it like fact... like they have some inside source of information so rather than saying “ I feel like this will never end” they say “ this is never going to end “. Thank god I don’t know anyone like that in real life... I wouldn’t be able to tolerate them.

I think a good proportion of the people who post “it’s going to be like this forever” are doing this to persuade people that we shouldn’t tolerate lock down a moment longer, that if we accept it for one second, we’re actually accepting it for eternity.

I always assumed it because they liked this new normal eg lack of social contact.

@Nellodee

I think a good proportion of the people who post “it’s going to be like this forever” are doing this to persuade people that we shouldn’t tolerate lock down a moment longer, that if we accept it for one second, we’re actually accepting it for eternity.

This is possibly the motivation for some yes.

Calling someone a derogatory name, for example a "doom monger", is an ad hominem attack. It's an attempt to discredit the person who's opinion you don't agree with, by attacking them personally. Instead of arguing against their position, which is "doom". No matter what their psychology, their psychology, and yours, is completely irrelevant really

Someone might say
"This is really really bad, we are all doomed"
That is an opinion about events, it might be a doom filled opinion, it might be completely wrong or even ridiculous, it is what it is but in a discussion they still have a right to put it forward.

If someone were to reply
"You're a doom monger"
In terms of debate, they're in the wrong really. Because they're attacking the person, by making a personal accusation, not attacking their position. In this case their opinion on events and how events are doomed

We can either ignore them or say something like
"I think your opinion is far too doom laden, I don't think we are doomed at all because... blah blah blah".

You give a hypothetical example of what a "doom monger's" opinion might be here, quote
People need to accept that this is the way we live now. Anyone who thinks the vaccines won't be rendered totally redundant within 6 months due to the new variants is quite frankly delusional. I'm afraid we need to get used to the idea that we will need to socially distance forever and that life as we knew it is gone

This example also uses ad hominem because of the part "delusional", an accusation on the persons mentallity, but the best thing to do is ignore that part and reply to the rest, and definatley not reply with another personal attack, because once you start labelling and accusing each other, or examining each others psychology, you're making it personal and polite debate is doomed