Thriller - part 1

Okay, I had a neat plan for a single post on evil psychologists but it turned into a 2,000-word monstrosity and I would never force anyone besides myself to ingest a 2,000-word monstrosity so I’ve split it into two less toxic doses.

For many in the fan base of the horror genre, the best books and movies are the slashers. A mad villain with a power tool or an axe chasing half a dozen innocents, with splashes of blood punctuating the story is their thing. For others, the best works of horror art have no jump scares and no blood, gore, and assorted offal. For them, the best horror movie or novel is the psychological thriller.

One of the most chilling sources of horror inspiration is people’s potential for messing with the heads of other people. More specifically, it is the potential of psychology and psychiatry professionals to drive their patients insane instead of helping them get better. Alas, this idea appears to have joined others previously residing in the realm of fiction in making the jump to real life. For the good of the planet.

Last week, one of you, dear readers, shared this here event, titled Should I stay, or should I go? A seminar for professionals torn between conflicting priorities in the metacrisis.

Now, first of all, I had to google metacrisis, because while I have come across the word before I couldn’t be bothered to check what it’s supposed to mean. Here’s one definition, courtesy of a Medium author whose Amazon bio says he is a businessman and an engineer with a Harvard MBA and a strong interest in sustainability.

Anyway, here’s what this author, Ernesto van Peborgh, has to say about the metacrisis: “The metacrisis is a systemic crisis that transcends the sum of its individual crises. It is not merely a polycrisis, but an emergent property that is greater than the sum of its parts. This crisis encompasses a profound crisis of purpose and meaning.”

This crisis-laden crisis, not according to the above author, of course, is being deliberately nurtured by an army of psychologists because the transition needs foot soldiers. And sane people don’t make good foot soldiers.