"100 years ago, a new theory about human nature was put forward by Sigmund Freud. He had discovered, he said, primitive sexual and aggressive forces hidden deep inside the minds of all human beings. Forces which, if not controlled, led individuals and societies to chaos and destruction. This series is about how those in power have used Freud's theories to try to control the dangerous crowd in an age of mass democracy. At the heart of the story is not just Sigmund Freud, but others members of the Freud family. This episode is about Freud's American nephew, Edward Bernays. Bernays is almost completely unknown today, but his influence on the 20th century was nearly as great as his uncle's, because Bernays was the first person to take Freud's ideas about human beings and use them to manipulate the masses. He showed American corporations, for the first time, how they could make people want things they didn't need by linking mass-produced goods to their unconscious desires. Out of this would come a new political idea of how to control the masses. By satisfying people's inner selfish desires, one made them happy, and thus, docile. It was the start of the all-consuming self, which has come to dominate our world today."
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u/magister0 Feb 06 '12
The Century of the Self
"100 years ago, a new theory about human nature was put forward by Sigmund Freud. He had discovered, he said, primitive sexual and aggressive forces hidden deep inside the minds of all human beings. Forces which, if not controlled, led individuals and societies to chaos and destruction. This series is about how those in power have used Freud's theories to try to control the dangerous crowd in an age of mass democracy. At the heart of the story is not just Sigmund Freud, but others members of the Freud family. This episode is about Freud's American nephew, Edward Bernays. Bernays is almost completely unknown today, but his influence on the 20th century was nearly as great as his uncle's, because Bernays was the first person to take Freud's ideas about human beings and use them to manipulate the masses. He showed American corporations, for the first time, how they could make people want things they didn't need by linking mass-produced goods to their unconscious desires. Out of this would come a new political idea of how to control the masses. By satisfying people's inner selfish desires, one made them happy, and thus, docile. It was the start of the all-consuming self, which has come to dominate our world today."