Applied Mass Psychology

"'Some men have striven for their own selfish ends, money or power - Wilson was one. We need their type for the plan, we offer it chances to develop - and at the same time, through the ultimate annihilating defeat of such men, we need the type out of our society.'"

-Poul Anderson, "The Troublemakers" IN Anderson, Cold Victory (New York, March 1982), pp. 31-110 AT p. 107.

-Poul Anderson, "The Troublemakers" IN Anderson, The Complete Psychotechnic League, Volume 2 (Riverdale, NY, February 2018), pp. 91-138 AT p. 136.

We think that the second "need" should be "weed."

The characters refer not to "psychotechnics" but only to "psychology." However, they do systematically apply mass psychology within the Pioneer. Does their management of social conflict within the spaceship ensure that the population that arrives at Alpha Centauri will be robust enough to build a colony? Their predictive science of society tells them that it does and will. An even better science of society would be one that everyone consciously participated in but maybe that is asking too much? It does not seem to matter that the Psychotechnic Institute was banned. Psychotechnics has not been.

Discussing this story has given us occasion to discuss history and social dynamics.

People in the Pioneer variously strive for:

selfish ends;

justice for themselves;

justice for their class;

justice for other classes and the ship as a whole.

"'Thus is born the type we ultimately want, the hard-headed fighting visionaries.'" (p. 137)

In the Technic History, Nicholas van Rijn strives for selfish ends but within a framework of justice for all.

In Asimov's Foundation series, Hari Seldon's psychohistory guides the Galaxy through a thousand years between the First and Second Galactic Empires. In "The Troublemakers," psychology guides the Pioneer through one hundred and twenty-three years between Sol and Alpha Centauri.