The Ontological Anatomy of Fear, Herd Instinct, and the "Righteousness" Reflex
1. Potentiality = Crime
The most dangerous threshold in human history is not the execution of an act, but the moment it is deemed "possible." Once an individual or a group is coded as "capable of doing it"—even if they haven't done anything yet—the sentence is already written. At this point, justice does not prevail; the reflex of preemptive destruction takes over.
This is less a legal concept and more a neurological and collective mechanism. The danger does not yet exist; but its mere possibility generates an alarm in the body. The alarm invents its own justification.
Collective fear does not produce logic; it invents logic after the fact.
Footnote:
This mechanism appears in modern law as "preventive detention" and in historical narratives as the discourse of "potential threat." Punishing an uncommitted crime is more about the reflex produced by fear than a conscious decision.
2. Punishment Before the Crime
When collective rage takes over, the chronological order is disrupted. The process, which should normally proceed as Crime → Judgment → Punishment, is reversed:
Punishment comes first, then the crime is justified.
This reversal is rare in individual psychology but common in collective psychology. The herd-minded consciousness distributes responsibility. No one has made the decision alone, yet everyone shares the outcome.
At this point, rage is no longer a moral stance; it is a neurochemical chain reaction. Amygdala-based threat perception synchronizes within the crowd, and the individual no longer feels their own emotion, but the velocity of the herd.
Footnote:
Lynch culture, witch hunts, and modern "character assassinations" are manifestations of this reversed timeline across different eras. The common ground is the feeling that punishment is a moral necessity.
3. Retribution: The Mask of Justice
Rage never presents itself as "I am angry." It legitimizes itself through concepts of justice, balance, and retribution.
"If they did something, they must pay the price."
The problem is: The price often has nothing to do with what was done, but with what is imagined could be done. Thus, retribution loses its scale and becomes limitless. Punishment no longer establishes order; it merely generates a new cycle of rage. The language of justice is used, but the goal is emotional relief.
Footnote:
Blood feuds, collective revenge narratives, and hostilities lasting for generations are cultural extensions of this mechanism. Retribution is not justice; it is the hardening of memory.
4. Herd Effect and Zombiemania
Collective rage is contagious. The unease starting with one person turns into Zombiemania in a crowd:
Thinking slows down, reaction accelerates.
Empathy decreases, the sense of righteousness increases.
Moral thresholds are silently withdrawn.
The individual still feels "normal" because their environment is the same. This is the real danger: The normalization of the abnormal.
Footnote:
Defined as "deindividuation" in social psychology, this state explains the loss of a person's sense of moral responsibility within a crowd. However, the determinant here is not just anonymity, but emotional synchronization.
5. Powermania: The Real Danger
It is not weapons, ideologies, or technologies that are destructive. The true danger is the mental intoxication created by the possession of power: Powermania.
The individual or society experiencing Powermania locks onto this thought:
"If I do it, it is legitimate, because I can."
In this logic, the threat is not external; it is within the internal perception of righteousness.
Footnote:
Nuclear weapons, mass surveillance technologies, and ideological absolutism are dangerous for this reason. Powermania knows no limits; it only seeks new thresholds.
6. Historical Turning Point: Knowledge is Also Dangerous
Throughout history, many figures were destroyed—not because they were wrong, but because they were deemed dangerous.
When knowledge carries the potential to shake the order, it is perceived as a threat. At this point, whether it is true or false becomes irrelevant; what matters is its impact.
A mind honored in one era can be declared a threat in another. Knowledge does not change; the collective chemistry perceiving it does.
Footnote:
The demonization of scientists, thinkers, and artists is the form of collective fear directed at knowledge. This is not an individual deviation, but a transhistorical reflex.
Conclusion: Where is the Danger?
The danger is not on the opposing side.
The danger lies in the mindset that deems potentiality a crime.
If punishment comes before the crime;
If retribution has become boundless;
If righteousness suffocates empathy;
destruction is inevitable.
History has mostly produced evil not through bad intentions, but through the feeling of righteousness.
This text does not take a side. It does not describe an enemy. It only says this:
Man approaches his most dangerous state the moment he feels absolutely righteous.
THE SPARK
— E.G.
DIVE DEEP INTO THE ANATOMY OF DANGER
"Man approaches his most dangerous state the moment he feels absolutely righteous."
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