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EXTREMISM SPECTRUM DISORDER (ESD) ASSESSMENT TOOL
This harm minimisation tool is intended to be used by those trying to assess otherwise functional individuals for extremism spectrum disorder. Refer glossary and disclaimer below. 1. 2.
3. 4. 5. 6.
Learn about the person being assessed Ascertain what the possible extremist ideology or cluster of ideologies might be a. Note that the ideology could be presently causing harm to themselves and/or others, or has the potential to in the future so it is highly recommended that appropriate safety protocols be adopted b. People with ESD are often outspoken about their ideology but some can wear a convincing mask to those that don’t know them well so they may present for ESD assessment due to their seemingly unrelated harmful behaviour Give each criteria a score of 0-5: 0 for statement does not apply at all / 5 for statement fits near perfectly a. The various criteria primarily serve as prompts to try and make a thorough assessment Add comments beside each item to add nuance to the assessment and assist with possible recommendations Determine total for each section then the grand total. This will give the assessor a possible preliminary categorisation. During the assessment, keep thinking about other possible diagnoses and also multiple diagnoses. For example, it is possible that extremist movement leaders suffer from both a cluster B personality disorder and ESD.
PERSONAL DETAILS (optional) Name: Bruce Wayne aka Batman Age: about 40? Gender: Male Reasons for assessment: Believes that he is entitled to dish out vigilante justice Tortures and violates the rights of those he deems to be criminals Believes he does not kill but has committed murder many times through take-downs and one punch kills The authorities have not brought him to justice and turn a blind-eye to the Bats Mental health personal and family history: Parents murdered in front of him Possibly bi-polar as swings from playboy Bruce to brooding Bats
Monday, 5 October 2015
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extremism spectrum disorder assessment tool v1
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INDIVIDUAL Brief description of possible extremist ideology being assessed: Belief that his style of vigilante justice is required to keep Gotham from completely falling apart
Code
Criteria
IN-1. CERTAINTY / SUPERIORITY
The individual appears to be 100% certain, proud and righteous that their ideology is True to the point where they rarely or never express doubt. They may appear to lack humility and have a kind of superiority complex since they believe they have the Truth and others are either asleep or wrong. The individual’s ideology monopolises a big chunk of their time, money, effort, conversation, and future goals The individual denies the possibility of their own brain's fallibility when it comes to their ideology infallibility Anything related to the ideology, even tangentially, is viewed only in black or white by the individual. Many conclusions about morality are all good or all evil. Individual often speaks in lots of absolutes. The individual appears to have a less than fully justified persecution complex about their ideology. The perception is that outsiders or enemies are persecuting followers and preventing them from spreading the Truth. There is often an intense distrust of institutions leading to unrealistic conspiracy theories. Subtotal (25 max)
IN-2. OBSESSION IN-3. INFALLIBILITY IN-4. ABSOLUTISM IN-5. PERSECUTION / CONSPIRACY
Score: 0 to 5 4
Comments
5
Would rather ponce around in a bat suit than actually help the poor Does not accept the possibility that he could be part of the problem Divides the World up into good and evil and believes that only he can save Gotham from the ‘bad’ people Often has paranoid phases where he believes that the authorities are all against him even though many actually sympathise with him
5 5 3
Diplomacy is boring but far less deadly than punching people in the head repeatedly
22
IDEOLOGY Code
Criteria
ID-1. FRINGE THEORIES
The ideology is not backed by any credible scientific evidence and is considered fringe / overly-idealistic / untested by experts in the field. An elaborate alternative paradigm been created that tries to ‘prove’ the ideology. The ideology has immunised itself against contradictory evidence. Logical ‘cracks’ in the ideology are ‘wallpapered’ over. Ideology presented to outsiders may be a dilution of the full-strength ideology believed by adherents.
ID-2. SIMPLE NARRATIVES
There are simple narrative structures as part of the ideology like ‘good vs evil’ or ‘us vs them’ (Star Wars ‘freedom fighter’ Rebel Alliance vs very powerful and evil ‘Empire’) and ‘hero quests’ (Jesus / Luke Skywalker / Harry Potter / Neo) Anyone considering compromise to a more moderate view is viewed as a traitor. Complexities, nuances, randomness and the messiness of reality are ignored or supposedly explained by the ideology.
5
Subtotal (15 max)
15
ID-3. NO COMPROMISE
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Score: 0 to 5 5
5
Comments Exaggerates the wrong-doings of a whole array of super-villains in order to justify his own existence. At least one of these bad guys is always on the loose to ensure that Batman can keep flying around at night swooping down on innocent bystanders that he believes are thugs Batman is the Hero fighting the evils of the World and is our only hope… Anything bad that Batman does is viewed as somehow necessary. Questioning the Bats makes you his enemy.
extremism spectrum disorder assessment tool v1
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GROUP Code
Criteria
GR-1. DISTINCT GROUP
The individual is part of a group devoted to the ideology with a charismatic leader or leaders that have somewhat closed themselves off to the outside world and others consider to be at least somewhat like a cult. There is a massive discrepancy between what outsiders think of the group and what they think of themselves. The individual glorifies the people that share the ideology while demonising people with views that even only slightly differ
GR-2. GROUP SUPERIORITY GR-3. JARGON GR-4. PROPAGANDA GR-5. CRISIS / FEAR
Score: 0 to 5 3
Comments
5
If you disagree with the Bats, he’ll get rid of you and accuse you of being one of the Joker’s goons. Adding ‘bat’ to the start of every device is fairly narcissistic jargon. His stories are so unbelievable it’s almost like it’s fiction… Batman trumps up the actions of the super-villains to keep everyone afraid and in love with the Bats
The individual’s ideology involves unique jargon not used by others with a similar ideology The content that the individual consumes about their ideology reads like propaganda with obvious flawed logic and exaggeration The individual believes there a constant sense of crisis about the world that could be fixed by more people believing in the ideology or at least not opposing it. If the ideology is wiped out, doomsday is inevitable. Fear tactics are used to keep followers in line. Subtotal (25 max)
3
Code
Criteria
OU-1. OVERREACTION
The individual reacts unpredictably, irrationally, emotionally, negatively and with obvious motivated reasoning when confronted with contradicting evidence and opinions or even with more moderate versions of their ideology It is impossible to make light jokes about the individual’s ideology without negative reaction / The individual misunderstands humour from outside the ideology Civil discussions can either be shut down or turn into intense debates at the slightest perceived provocation. The individual throws the rule-book out during debates about their ideology and plays dirty in order to win (logical fallacies, bullying, name-calling, threats of violence, yelling, demonising or mischaracterisation of the opponent, picking the opponent up on even minor slip ups, trap questions, history revisionism, dispute of widely accepted facts and logic, asking questions that attempt to cast doubt: JAQing, hurling shopping list of half-truths and zombie myths; too many to respond to: Gish galloping, etc). Knee-jerk reactions are more common when rebutting; rather than considered responses. Even if the opponent in a debate ‘wins’ and the individual is forced to concede some points, there may be a ‘snapback’ effect where the individual is not able to incorporate these concessions into their ideology and will repeat the same points at the next debate. The individual cannot imagine what it would be like to have a different ideology and be at least somewhat accepting of a different ‘path’. The individual seems to lack theory of mind when it comes to ‘outsiders’ Subtotal (20 max)
Score: 0 to 5 5
5 5
Batman is the cult leader who deludes himself that he can fix all with the help of his sidekicks and other hangers on
21
OUTSIDERS
OU-2. HUMOURLESS OU-3. CIVIL DISCOURSE IMPOSSIBLE
OU-4. MYOPIC
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3
Comments Being a billionaire, it’s tough to ensure that you don’t surround yourself with Yes men. Bats over-reacts to those outside his group. Bruce Wayne makes plenty of jokes / Batman makes none
5
Prefers to use his fists rather than his tongue when the ears are pointy and the cape is flowing
3
Bruce does care deeply for humanity / Bats not so much
16
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THE REAL OR PERCIEVED ENEMY Code
Criteria
EN-1. WAR ON ENEMIES
The individual believes there is an enemy to their ideology who must be defeated or there will be dire consequences. The enemy is dehumanised and therefore the individual sees no reason to treat them as fellow human beings or feel empathy for their suffering. The enemy is blamed for far more than they could possibly be responsible for. Even moderates are seen as being allied to the enemy. There is no ability for the individual to try and view the world through the eyes of the real or perceived enemy. Even the explanation of this thought experiment could lead to a negative emotional response. Treatment by the perceived or real enemy may be a factor in further radicalising them into extremism and each side plays off each other. There is a perception by moderates that the extremists at each end are as bad as each other and they both employ similar dirty tactics. Former adherents to the ideology are often viewed as just as bad as the perceived enemy. Diplomacy, compromise & even mercy by former adherents is viewed as weakness and derided. Other groups with very similar ideologies may be perceived by outsiders as almost the same, but the groups spend a disproportionate amount of time debating the subtle differences. Subtotal (20 max)
EN-2. LACKS THEORY OF MIND EN-3. ENEMIES BLAMED FOR RADICALISING EN-4 MOST OF HUMANITY ARE THE ENEMY
Score: 0 to 5 5
Comments
5
Play the Arkham Knight video game to see this problem in action
5
Many moderates in Gotham believe that Batman goes too far and he is actually part of the problem in maintaining a reason for the criminals to exist Every argument that Superman and Batman have ever had…
5
Batman has brainwashed us all about how bad the super-villains actually are.
20
HARM Code
Criteria
HA-1. HARM / DENIAL
The ideology appears to have caused the individual or others close to them harm in the past but they deny that the ideology was the primary cause. (Harm could be physical, emotional, financial, relationships) Others with the same ideological beliefs have harmed themselves or others
HA-2. HARM BY ADHERENTS HA-3. ENDS JUSTIFY MEANS
Score: 0 to 5 5 5
Comments It’s a long list of preventable causalities depending on which Batman timeline you follow The ending of Dexter was BS. We all know what really happened.
There is denial or downplay that others with the same ideology have caused harm and denial or downplay that there are victims. Acts considered despicable by outsiders are justified as being for the greater good of the ideology Subtotal (15 max)
5
Destroy the World in order to save the World from destruction. How does this make the good guys any better than the bad guys?
Criteria
Score: 0 to 5 3
Comments
5
Fighting extremism with extremism ensure that the war will never end.
15
FUTURE Code
FU-1. The individual wants to tell the world about their ideology and thinks that all PROSELYTISING will eventually be ‘awakened’ and ‘believe’ too or be punished for not ‘believing’ FU-2. There is the assertion that in the future the individual’s beliefs will be UNLIKELY vindicated somehow, like the end times or scientific ‘proof’. This is viewed as PROPHECY/IES unrealistic by moderates. Subtotal (10 max)
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Bats doesn’t preach but he understands the power of his symbol
8
extremism spectrum disorder assessment tool v1
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TOTAL Add up subtotal from each section
117
(0 min / 130 max)
CATEGORISATION Range 0-50
Possible categorisation PERSON WITH MODERATE IDEOLOGY/IES (moderate) 50-90 PERSON WITH POSSIBLE ESD low risk (true believer / absolutist) 90-110 PERSON WITH POSSIBLE ESD medium risk (extremist) 110-130 PERSON WITH POSSIBLE ESD high risk (harmful extremist)
Notes May have fringe ideology/ies but not absolutist and highly unlikely to cause harm due to ESD Has absolutist ideology/ies but unlikely to cause significant harm due to ESD Has potential to cause harm to themselves and/or others due to ESD Could cause imminent and significant harm to themselves and/or others due to ESD
POSSIBLE DIAGNOSIS & RECOMMENDATIONS Probable high-risk ESD that has, is & will cause Bats and his loved ones harm. His ideology will likely encourage others to dole out their own version of justice too. Without Batman, there would have been no Dexter‌ Recommend that Bruce be diagnosed & treated for his bi-polar first to try and get him to have a more reality-based view of the World Once his bi-polar is under control, try to encourage him to promote Batman more as a symbol of hope that is anti-violence and anti-torture
Monday, 5 October 2015
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extremism spectrum disorder assessment tool v1
http://theemergencestartsnow.blogspot.com.au/
theemergencestartsnow@gmail.com
GLOSSARY EXTREMISM SPECTRUM DISORDER (ESD): A hypothesised brain disorder that causes sufferers to be particularly prone to believing in extremist ideologies and joining groups that are considered extremist by moderates. EXTREMISM: an absolutist belief-based ideology that impels its adherents to do practically anything to defend it; including causing harm to adherents and/or outsiders ABSOLUTISM: beliefs that are considered 100% the Truth without room for doubt. Absolutist language is encouraged by followers to reinforce the belief system. MODERATE: an individual who scores low on this diagnostic tool for their core ideologies (political, religious and other ideologies that occupy their thoughts and discussions) BELIEF-BASED IDEOLOGY: Critical thinking and the scientific method are either not used or abused to justify the set of core ideas that form the ideology. Debates between differing belief-based ideologies cherry-pick evidence and use emotional rhetoric and propaganda rather than the agreedupon facts and reason. Ideologies usually fall somewhere on the spectrum between belief-based and evidence-based. EVIDENCE-BASED IDEOLOGY: Critical thinking and the scientific method is used extensively to justify the set of core ideas that form the ideology. Debates between differing evidence-based ideologies use evidence and reason rather than emotional rhetoric and propaganda. Ideologies usually fall somewhere on the spectrum between belief-based and evidence-based. HARM (caused by extremism): Human flourishing (eudemonia) is compromised in some way above a threshold where a reasonable, independent, diverse group of people (not adherents of the ideology), would accept that the harm would have been partly or fully preventable had the perpetrator not prioritised the ideology over the possible harm. HUMAN FLOURISHING (or eudemonia): “to live within an optimal range of human functioning, one that connotes goodness, generativity, growth, and resilience” Fredrickson, B. L., & Losada, M. F. (2005). Positive affect and complex dynamics of human flourishing. American Psychologist, 60, 678-686. CLUSTER B PERSONALITY DISORDERS: “characterized by dramatic, overly emotional or unpredictable thinking or behavior.” http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/personality-disorders/basics/symptoms/con-20030111 LOGICAL FALLACIES (informal): Flaws in reason that are commonly used to justify belief-based ideologies such as special pleading https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/ COGNITIVE BIASES: Flaws in thinking of the human brain that we are all susceptible to. Confirmation bias is the most important of these regarding apparent cherry picking of evidence to support belief-based ideology http://io9.com/5974468/the-most-common-cognitive-biases-that-preventyou-from-being-rational NARRATIVE STRUCTURES: Most classic story-telling conforms to one of the archetypal narrative structures and our brains appear to be more attracted to them than possible arcs. Many ideologies also distort evidence into these architypes to make their propaganda more convincing to our brains. http://thescriptlab.com/screenwriting/story/development/1005-top-10-central-themes-in-film JAQ-ING: abbreviation of ‘just asking questions’; where proponents will ask too many questions in a debate that seem reasonable to the audience to try & confound the opponent and make it seem like there are serious doubts in their position. The proponent may claim that they’re being perfectly reasonable and ‘just asking questions’. Typically, the opponent cannot possibly answer all the questions in the allotted time. http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Just_asking_questions GISH GALLOP: A verbal debating style popularised by Duane Gish, where the proponent quickly strings together many claims to give their argument seeming legitimacy and leave the opponent unable to address each claim in real time. Typically, many of these claims have been shown to be false or at least misleading, but the audience may come away with the impression that the proponent’s argument has more legitimacy than it really deserves. http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Gish_Gallop
DISCLAIMER This tool was created by a hack pseudo-psychologist to help cope with his borderline extremist family members so it is currently strictly for entertainment purposes only, until actual experts can either turn it into a professional tool or tear it up in front of his face and force enema it to him smeared in ‘burning ring of fire’ hot sauce. The author has requested that no demonic exorcisms be performed on individuals scoring above 110; and under no circumstances does he wish to be sent the dry cleaning bill and the mutilated body parts as a trophy.
Monday, 5 October 2015
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extremism spectrum disorder assessment tool v1