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By Desmond Ayim-Aboagye
A scientist, researcher, or a writer is like a messenger who carries an important message to the people. When the message he transports with him has been delivered, he considers that his work or assignment has been accomplished. In his absence, he cares less what those who received the message would do with the content. Furthermore, this messenger does not worry about what these fellows would do to cast doubt about his personality in order to make clouds about the essential nature of those sent messages. His merits, his family background, his education, the conversations that he had engaged in earlier during the last years before he was sent to be a bearer to convey the message, which to his hearers they need in order to cloud his message are not the bearer's concern. The significant thing is that this important note that he was dispatched with to give over has been consummated.

An important characteristic that had been with all those countries and kingdoms that emerged in history as world leaders is the obsession of their leaders with power. We all know of the simple saying that goes like “power corrupts but absolute power corrupts absolutely”. This condition of becoming obsessed with superiority was never translated into the laboratory of psychiatrists due to the sensitive nature of the condition because usually this had to do with a king, a commander or an emperor that had become obsessed with the power to rule. And in those days, who could dare to challenge the power of any of these sick individuals in public or private. The sad thing about these illnesses were that all those men that gathered around these leaders underestimated the seriousness of their illnesses; even when they had detected their serious conditions they could not talk or discuss about it in public or in private.

It can be asserted that during these periods of the great kingdoms such as Ancient Babylonians, Ancient Persians, Ancient Greeks, Romans, Ancient Jews, Moslems, and the recent power gained by many Europeans nations, all the leaders that were excessively interested in waging war in their neighbouring territories were sick. But these leaders had not only some kind of disorders, they were interested in destroying the peace of many people that lived around them. It is only recently that some distinguished psychiatrists have come out openly to admit that indeed these leaders had been seriously ill during the time of their reign. But as to the kind of illnesses they suffered, even though some had mentioned of their high fever, had been given poison, and etc, the outward revelation of all this kind of illness were the obsession with power. Their sick condition made them engage in atrocious damages that they incurred among the weaker and poorer nations around their kingdoms that occurred through war.

Usually the campaign made by these leaders were buttressed with some kinds of beliefs or ideologies such as they had been chosen by a special god that they were the favoured people; their race was the most favoured kingdom on earth at that period; that they had been instructed to build kingdoms to protect them from other barbarians around them who did not have the same god as theirs; that they had been the last on the human species to evolve so they were known as Homo sapiens and therefore to become President you would have to originate from this particular race; God had instructed them to kill all those who would not converted to their religion and these wars should be called “holy wars”; that they were the Chosen people and a Messiah would come from their root who would save the world of the sinners and he would build his own kingdom either on earth or in heaven and transport only them into that kingdom; their caste is the clean and holy one, if one originates from the down trodden caste you can never marry from the upper one. Have nothing to do with the lower caste. It stings! As one descends to observe more with the smaller race in Africa, Asia, Australia, Indians, you would find such myths that had unfortunately been used by these individual nations around that enabled them to commit the worse crimes in history.

As I observed meticulously what had been the causes of all wars that took place on the earth, I discovered that there was a psychiatric illness that I have termed the “Norman Psychosis,” meaning group psychosis, confusion, or temporary mental derangement. This illness was prevalent during those years of antiquity when wars were rampant among the stronger as well as the weaker nations. It had to do with how those nations who had surrounded themselves with myths as a result of their encounter with gods or Gods reacted when they interacted with their so-called chosen leaders. The myths had already been assimilated so it could be asserted that they already had them in their cognitive structure. So alive were the body of myths such that one needed not to remind the people in question before they would be conscious with them. They threw these words and insults around just as they marched in the battlefields to conquer and destroy their neighbours and enemies.

The assimilation of these myths were important for the people for they depended on these myths to raise their children, arrange their social activities, offer employment to foreigners, give to marriage, and conduct all the high activities in the country in question. They were reminded constantly about these myths in the occasions when they had marriage ceremonies and there was some codes language that permitted them to communicate in the presence of foreigners. The most serious thing about these illness conditions was that due to the strong condition of these myths and their constant reminding by the authorities, any conspiracy suggested or planned by these leaders of the people in question is condoned, reacted upon, carried out without having adequate time to ponder over what these conspiracies imply. It occurred to me that many of the wars in this world that occurred among these nations that were obsessed with superiority were carried out by their citizens without adequate mental consideration of what the whole conspiracy implied. There was group psychosis or temporary mental derangement that was enshrined in their nature with enormous kind of bias which made it impossible to think over conspiracies suggested by their leaders or superiors. If we are superior then anybody that is not part of us is inferior or not adequate to be with us or continue living. It therefore became very easy for them to destroy when they do not have facts, kill when they had no reasons, and conquer when they do not know why they should engage in this atrocious venture. But the stupidity about this behaviour is that all other nations that came into contact with these nations and as a result adopted their gods or God learned of their sick mentality, which had influenced them so much, that they could not be relinquished so easily.

We have had many wars since time immemorial and in the Ancient periods and also during the last century because of the illness of Norman Psychosis, which many nations around the southern and northern hemispheres are suffering from.

Source: Desmond Ayim-Aboagye (Ph.D.)

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Other Articles by Desmond Ayim-Aboagye (Ph.D.)