1 result for (book:nome AND session:854 AND stemmed:male)
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Through such methods, and through such group hysteria, the responsibility for separate acts is divorced from the individual, and rests instead upon the group, where it becomes generalized and dispersed. The cause, whatever it is, can then cover any number of crimes, and no particular individual need bear the blame alone. Fanatics have tunnel vision, so that any beliefs not fitting their purposes are ignored. Those that challenge their own purposes, however, become instant targets of scorn and attack. (Pause.) Generally speaking in your society, power is considered a male attribute. Cult leaders are more often male than female, and females are more often than not followers, because they have been taught that it is wrong for them to use power, and right for them to follow the powerful.
I said (in Session 846) that you have religious and scientific cults, and the male-oriented scientific community uses its power in the same way that the male Jehovah used his power in a different arena, to protect his friends and destroy his enemies. I spoke rather thoroughly in my last book (The Nature of the Psyche) about the sexuality of your species, but here I want to mention how some of those sexual beliefs affect your behavior.
(With amusement:) The male scientist considers the rocket his private symbol of sexual power. (Pause.) He feels he has the prerogative to use power in any way he chooses. Now many scientists are “idealists.” (Pause.) They believe that their search for answers, however, justifies almost any means, or sacrifices, not only on their parts but on the parts of others. They become fanatics when they ignore the rights of others, and when they defile life in a misguided attempt to understand it (see Session 850, with Note 3).
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