Thoughts on an episode of Twilight Zone: “The monsters are due on Maple Street” – revealing the never acknowledged monsters of society . . . the people

A good example of mass hysteria is seen in episode 22 of ‘The Twilight Zone’ called ‘The monsters are due on Maple Street’ which first aired on March 4, 1960 and was written by Rod Serling (here is the script: The Monsters are Due on Maple Street script.pdf (google.com) ).

This story shows many qualities that we see in mass hysteria but it is displayed with a small number of neighbors on a single street in the U.S.: Maple Street. Of course, most mass hysteria’s entail more people than the neighbors on a single street. Despite this, it is very revealing and, I think, very insightful. It reveals a monster that is never acknowledged in society . . . the people.

Maple Street, Any Town, USA

THE STORY

This story begins with people on Maple Street and a bright flying object flies overhead which makes everyone wonder about it. After that, all the electrical power goes out on the street. Everyone on the street is wondering why this happened. One of the characters of the story thinks its a meteor that flew overhead. A kid offers this idea, based on what he read in stories, that aliens were the ones that made the power go out and that they don’t want them to leave the area. He says that, in the stories he’s read, there are aliens that are sent down beforehand, and that they look like humans, to prepare for their landing. What eventually happens is that everyone starts of think that everyone else are the aliens. They start coming up with reasons why this or that neighbor might be the alien. Eventually, they get so “worked up” that a neighbor gets killed. Eventually, a panic, riot, or hysteria ensues on the street. In the end of the story we find that it was, in fact, the aliens who did this as part of an invasion, just as the kid said. They were using peoples tendency to mass hysteria as a “weapon” to defeat them.

STAGES OF MASS HYSTERIA

The story is rather good as it shows some stages seen in the development of mass hysteria:

1. It begins with “something amiss” that makes everyone wonder. In other words, mass hysteria often does not start from an “immediate threat” but, rather, a “sense of something wrong” that develops into a fear over time and which often comes in stages.
2. There then begins something that starts a “concern” or “worry”, often an “idea about what is going on”. This slowly turns into a fear. This growing “concern” or “worry” often is a result of reflection which create “ideas about what’s going on”. In the story, this is initiated by the kids story of aliens which directs peoples minds to that way of looking at things. In some sense, this shows that mass hysteria originates from people who “think too much”. It shows the danger of thought and intellectualism. Basically, if people didn’t “think about things” then most mass hysterias would not take place. But it also shows how mass hysteria is a fear or panic that only exists in peoples minds.
3. The “ideas about what’s going on” start to grow and grow until they develop a life of their own. Once the idea takes root it becomes the basis of how they look at things. In a sense, it starts to make people look at things as if looking through a tube . . . they see it no other way.
4. Based on the “ideas about what’s going on” they start to find “threats” in people and start to accuse them. In the story, people end up being accused of being the aliens for the simplest things: their car starts and stops on its own, a man looks up at the sky at night, a person spends a lot of time working on a radio in the basement, their house lights turn on automatically, etc. This is a good example of how, once the fear sets in a group of people, anything can be viewed as a “threat”, even the most simplest and mundane things . . . they just have to find an association with the fear. This causes the fear to grow and grow because they find threats in just about anything.
5. People start to become scared of each other. As the threats and fears and accusations grow they start to become apprehensive and frightened of each other.
6. It erupts into violence. In the story the fear causes violence but this is not always the case in mass hysteria. Generally, an event is required for a mass hysteria to turn into violence. This event is often the act of an individual person or even an accidental event. When this act of violence takes place it often as if “opens the doors” for everyone else and everyone becomes violent . . . a riot is then created. In the story one of the characters got very panicky as one of the neighbors approached in the dark. This caused him to shoot him. This event, eventually, caused everyone else to become violent. This seems rather accurate to me. If this event happened in real life, and the neighbor was not shot, then there probably would not of been any violence or riot. They probably would of argued, and debated, with nothing significant happening. Eventually, the fear would of fizzled out over time.

THE SELF-DESTRUCTIVE QUALITY OF MASS HYSTERIA

At then end of the story an alien states this about humans: “They pick the most dangerous enemy they can find . . . and it’s themselves. And all we need do is sit back . . . and watch.”. Then he goes on to say, “Their world is full of Maple Streets. And we’ll go from one to the other and let them destroy themselves. One to the other . . . one to the other . . . one to the other.”. What this is hinting at is that mass hysteria has a self-destructive quality as it turns people against themselves.  Earlier, a statement from one of the characters says “And you’re with him too – all of you! You’re standing here all set to crucify – all set to find a scapegoat – all desperate to point some kind of a finger at a neighbor! Well now look, friends, the only thing that’s gonna happen is that we’ll eat each other up alive.”.

It says this in the closing statement: “There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, prejudices . . . to be found only in the minds of men. For the record, prejudices can kill . . . and suspicion can destroy . . . and a thoughtless, frightened search for a scapegoat has a fallout all of its own—for the children and the children yet unborn. And the pity of it is that these things cannot be confined to the Twilight Zone.”

THE REAL “MONSTERS ON MAPLE STREET” – THE PEOPLE

In effect, the “monsters on Maple Street” are the people themselves, with their unrealistic fears and suspicions that get of control and start causing them to attack each other . . . this is mass hysteria. The “monsters”, then, are the people who make up mass hysteria.

What has always bothered me about the “monsters” of mass hysteria are that they are never acknowledged as being the monsters. The problems caused by mass hysteria are always blamed on something else, such as authority, the situation, the economy, etc. that always divert the attention away from the real monsters. Never are the “monsters” of mass hysteria – the people – acknowledged as the monsters! At this time, I am the only person I know who does this.

I’ve always felt that a society that professes to be a democracy – a “people rule” – needs to acknowledge the evils of the people and to quit blaming authority, the economy, and such for all the problems. Instead, the mentality of a “democracy” displays qualities such as these:

• That the people are holy relics, pure, and with not a single evil bone in their body
• They act like the people are always right in everything they do, as if they can do no wrong
• They act as if the people are innocent of any wrong doing
• They act as if the people are always victims of something else, such as politics, economy, social problems, etc.
• Never are the people at fault
• The people cause no negative effects

But, it seems to me, that most of the problems of today are created by the people, not authority, the economy, and such. Its because of this that I often say: “The ‘monsters of the modern world’ is not found in politics, it is not found in the ‘Hitler’s’, it is not found in the economy, it is not found in technology . . . it is found in the mob, the people!” Practically all the problems originate from the people, as a group.

Many of the problems, nowadays, are caused by the sheer numbers of people . . . overpopulation. It is because of overpopulation that many tensions are created today. The burden of overpopulation causes problems in other aspects of life . . . political, social, economic, etc. People tend to think, though, that politics, society, economy, etc. are the source of the problems, the beginning, and the cause. The people are then “affected” by these problems. But, in actuality, those problems are a reaction to the mob, the people and, in particular, overpopulation. In some respects, one could probably say that we don’t really have political, social, and economic problems anymore . . . we have “people problems”. They are the source and origin of practically all other problems.

But, remember, the “people” are not made up of individual people but the people “en masse”, as a whole, as a group. This makes it difficult to define the “people” and to give them a face. They also don’t have a “mind” with a motive. These make it hard to give them blame. It makes it difficult to say “its the peoples fault”.

I often say: “The people are their own worst enemy”. I also say: “The greatest threat to humanity is the people”.

PREDISPOSITIONS TO MASS HYSTERIA

Above, I mentioned how a lot of mass hysteria is a result of “thinking too much”, of creating “ideas of what’s going on” which we get carried away with. In a situation of fear or panic there is a tendency where these ideas can end up creating threats and fears that don’t actually exist. A good example is in the story where the kid tells the people science fiction stories about aliens and the people start to think its true. Once an idea appears that works then the fear or panic as if “rides the idea” and uses it to grow and expand almost like an infection. In this way, it shows that the fact that we have thoughts and ideas predisposes us to mass hysteria. This, no doubt, is why humanity has problems with mass hysteria and animals don’t . . . they don’t have thoughts and ideas.

But, in actuality, thought is only one part of the problem. I see a number of things that play a part in mass hysteria:

• Thoughts and ideas
• The prevalence of an emotion
• The absence of a “mind”

In actuality, mass hysteria is really caused by an absence of “mind”. This absence of “mind” is caused by the fact that we lose our “mind” to what can be called a “social mind” when in a group of people . . . I often call this the “mass mind”. We as if give up or relinquish our “mind” and replace it with this “mass mind”. This has several effects:

• We blindly follow the “social mind”
• We lose control of our self and our “mind”

EMOTION-DOMINANT MASS HYSTERIA

This absence of “mind” causes a tendency to let emotions take over, particularly if they are strong such as in fear, panic, and paranoia. When only the emotions take over then it creates something like a riot. This “emotion-dominant mass hysteria” has qualities such as:

• Its impulsive
• Its situational and generally focused at a specific location
• It quickly subsides

This type of mass hysteria tends to come in something like a “wave” and often comes in stages:

1. The emotion comes
2. There is a height in emotion
3. The emotion subsides

The “emotion-dominant mass hysteria” is seen in the story. It begins to be seen after the neighbor is killed . . . the reality that someone has died causes a panic in the group of people.

IDEA-DOMINANT MASS HYSTERIA

The fear, panic, and paranoia is often aggravated when it is supported by thoughts and ideas. This “idea-dominant mass hysteria” has qualities such as:

• It usually develops over time
• It can create a “mass hysteria-based philosophy”, or even a “mass hysteria culture”, making it persist in peoples minds
• It can last for some time
• It can spread causing other hysterias

The “idea-dominant mass hysteria” is also seen in the story. It begins to be seen when they start accusing each other of being aliens . . . its the idea of aliens that causes the problem.

MINDLESS-DOMINANT MASS HYSTERIA

But there is even another form – “mindless-dominant mass hysteria” – that isn’t displayed in the story. In this form, one “does whatever the crowd is doing” in a mindless way, without thought. This is also seen in riots where people just “follow along”. Many people will do things they otherwise would not do “in their normal mind”. They often feel “swept up” in things and “couldn’t help themselves”. In this way, people will commit crimes and offenses almost without thought or being fully aware of what they are doing. Not only that, they may even deny what they did during the mass hysteria because, remember, they are not in their normal mind, but are controlled by the “mass mind”. It can create something like a “mass hysteria amnesia”.

NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF MASS HYSTERIA

As I said above, mass hysteria often has a self-destructive quality. It can do this a number of ways:

• Situational. This means that it has a negative effect on the current situation. Once that situation ends the negative effects disappears.
• Long term. This means that its effects last a longer time even to the point that it continues to exist after the mass hysteria ends.

Some of the things mass hysteria can affect include:

1. Organizational effects – this refers to things like government, political systems, legal organizations, etc.
2. Social effects – this refers to the association of people as a group
3. Personal effects – this refers to the effects it has on an individual person

As I said above these seldom bring a people or society down by themselves. In this way, its not really self-destructive. It would probably be more accurate to say that mass hysteria has a self-undermining quality. That is to say, it seems to undermine or weaken things.

1-Organization effects

Mass hysteria can greatly affect how an organization works. It can do things such as:

• It can impair its functioning
• It can paralyze and make it cease to function
• It can direct it in the wrong direction

A major element for this to happen is that the hysteria must affect the people in power of the organization. Their decisions, based on the hysteria, end up affecting the organization and its functioning.

2-Social effects

Mass hysteria can greatly affect society, culture, social relations, beliefs, etc., particularly if it lasts a long time. In this way, it can adversely affect the effectiveness of society as well as its attitudes and its mentalities. In some cases, a mass hysteria can become so ingrained in a society that it creates something like a “mass hysteria culture”, a whole way of life, and world view, based on the mass hysteria.

3-Personal effects

Because the “mass mind” takes people over, and replaces their normal mind, the effects of mass hysteria can cause personal or psychological problems for some people. It can cause things such as:

• Disassociation. It can make people feel alienated from themselves or disassociated. This can cause identity problems and personality problems.
• Emotional trauma. The emotions that are associated with mass hysteria, such as fear or panic, can have great impact on people to the point that they have problems dealing with it. It can even be traumatic, not unlike some form of abuse.

These can even create what can be described as a “mass hysteria personality”, a specific type of character that is in reaction to the effects of mass hysteria.

MASS HYSTERIA AS A WEAPON???

Interestingly, I have often wondered if it is possible to use mass hysteria as a “weapon” against an enemy, to basically let them destroy themselves, as is portrayed in this story. I came to the conclusion that this isn’t as easy as it may seem and is practically impossible. This is because of things like these:

• A large part of mass hysteria is reactionary. As a result, it is spontaneous and based on second-to-second happenings. This means that one can’t really plan it or foresee it . . . it just happens.
• Various happenings or events must be “lined up” in the right way for things to take place. That is to say, its like there are stages that have to take place . . . you can’t just throw a fear into a population and expect it to work.
• Some situations must take place at the right moment and in the right way. This is particularly true for something like violence to take place.
• It seems that any deliberate attempt at causing a fear, panic, or violence tends to be perceived as out-of-place and tends to make it fizzle out.
• Mass hysteria often tends to quickly fizzles out if it is not maintained.
• Even though mass hysteria may cause problems it seldom destroys a people and a society.

Because of these, mass hysteria can’t really be said to be an effective weapon against a people by a foreign enemy. This is primarily because of these two things:

• A mass hysteria can’t really be planned
• A mass hysteria does not necessarily make a society fall

As a result, the technique used by the aliens in the story is unlikely to bring humanity down. In other words, making people in the streets panic and riot isn’t enough to make humanity fall. This shows that mass hysteria can’t really bring a people down, by itself, but it seems that an existing mass hysteria can weaken a society enough for a foreign enemy to come in and overcome them. In this case, the foreign enemy is really “taking advantage of a situation” more than having any control or influence on the hysteria. I often think that this has happened more than once in history.

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This article is actually an elaboration of a section in this article: Thoughts on the riot in Washington DC, January 6, 2021 – fabricated abuses, false accusations, the problem of proof, as well as traits of a riot, the ongoing mass hysteria in the U.S., its infectious nature, and some remarks on mass mania. In that article I compared the Trump presidency to this story which, to me, are very similar. Eventually, I began to expand on this section and decided to make a new article with the expanded additions.

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Copyright by Mike Michelsen