Self-fulfilling prophecy

Amateur psychologists and neurotics must love this one. The thought about the possibility of something happening actually leads us to make it happen.

I was always uneasy about this bit in Marxism and Hegelianism. Hegel has written a book; famously completing it to the sounds of Napolean's advancing armies, bringing what he believed was the new age that he was writing about.

In which case what was the point of the book. A kind of epiphenomalism, a story and narrative which runs over the already happening events?

In which case why does Hegelianism and Marxism inspire people to complete the events written about? If the worker's revolution is really the natural progression for society then it will happen by itself, intrinsically from the existing components, without ideological campaigning by Marxists the "change" the course of history.

If on the other hand the workers revolution requires campaigning and individual effort then to what extent can it be seen as the "correct" or "natural" progression for dialectical materialism.

In other words, if the book is right then it is just epiphenomological and has no part to play in the described process, and if the book is just propaganda to arouse worker's consciousness then it is wrong about dialectical materialism.

What Das Kapital might say to be logically correct is, "now that you have read this book you join a community of other people who have read it and understand it's ideas, what you do now is upto you since pages can't fight."

However the existence of "self-fulfilling prophecies" in psychology does open the door to Marxism working. Some ideas seem to make themselves happen.

This is like Richard Dawkin's idea of memes, where ideas are built in such a way to propagate themselves well. He cites religion, and while firmly convinced of God etc, I am equally skeptical of religion: some Evangelical groups I have visited seem to do nothing but propagate the Word. And what is the Word? that we should propagate the Word.

Marxism is designed to grow because it offers the poor, riches. Any idea which poses that dream will propagate as long as there are poor.

Islam seems similar, and the radical arms of Islam seem especially bound into self fulfilling prophecy. We hate certain people. So we will bomb them in the most appauling way. They will then hate us and treat us like animals, which gives us the justification for hating them and so it spirals.

Of course the Christian West is equally embroilled in the process. We'll treat them like second class global citizens, and exploit them for political and material gain. When they get angry that is the justification for treating them like animals. Israel is the worst offender by far here.

The Americans have their own special brand of self-fulfilling prophect with End Timers, or people who follow Revelations rather than Christ. (Really they are no longer Christians.)

By believing that the salvation will accompany the end of the world they are looking for the end of the world. Of course with such an interest in the end of the world, they are actually bringing about the end of the world.