Pronoia (psychology)


 * For other uses of the term pronoia, please see Pronoia (disambiguation).

The academic journal "Social Problems" published an article entitled "Pronoia" by Fred H. Goldner in 1982 (vol 30, pp.82-91). It received a good deal of publicity at the time including references to it in Psychology Today, The New York Daily News, The Wall Street Journal etc. It described a phenomenon that was the opposite from paranoia and provided numerous examples of specific persons who displayed such characteristics.

It was subsequently picked up in England and written about as described below. Wired Magazine published an Article in Version 2.05 (May 1994) titled Zippies!. The cover of the magazine featured a psychedelic image of a smiling young man with wild hair, a funny hat, and crazy eyeglasses. Written by Jules Marshall, the article announced an organized cultural response to Thatcherism in the British Isles. The opening paragraphs of the article describe "a new and contagious cultural virus" and refer to the term pronoia as "the sneaking feeling one has that others are conspiring behind your back to help you".

The article announces a cultural, musical, invasion of the United States to rival the British Invasion of 1964-1966, culminating with a "Woodstock Revival" to be staged at the Grand Canyon in August of 1994. The spokesperson for the Zippies, Fraser Clark, dubs this movement the "Zippy Pronoia Tour".

A New York Times article published August 7, 1994; titled "For Peace and Love, Try Raving Till Dawn" also described the Zippies and their efforts. It contained two references to pronoia.

Pronoia Philosophy
The simplest definition of Pronoia may be to say that it is the opposite of paranoia. A person suffering from paranoia suspects that persons or entities (e.g. governments) conspire against them. A person enjoying pronoia feels that the world around them conspires to do them good. The Wired article explains a close association between Zippies, rave culture, and the use of designer drugs which are noted for producing feelings of euphoria and positive fellow-being amongst users. Rave culture involves large social gatherings to participate in trance-like dancing in an environment of techno music and intense light shows. The message of the Zippies appears to be a design to bring the intense positive social feeling and enthusiasm of the Rave to a quasi-religious cultural movement for the improvement of mankind.

Pronoia Affliction
According to the Pronoia.net, a Dr. Fred H.Goldner claims that he, writing at Queens College in October 1982, published a paper in SOCIAL PROBLEMS,V.30,N.1:82-91, in which he coined the term pronoia to describe a psychological affliction. He characterized pronoia as a mirror image of paranoia, which leads the sufferer to unrealistically believe that persons or entities (E.G. governments) conspire against them.

"Pronoia is the positive counterpart of paranoia. It is the delusion that others think well of one. Actions and the products of one's efforts are thought to be well received and praised by others. Mere acquaintances are thought to be close friends; politeness and the exchange of pleasantries are taken as expressions of deep attachment and the promise of future support. Pronoia appears rooted in the social complexity and cultural ambiguity of our lives: we have become increasingly dependent on the opinions of others based on uncertain criteria." This quote is taken from Goldner's article listed above.

Other Voices
The Outsourced Zippy and Pronoia Page claims that the Zippie/Pronoia phenomenon is simply a hoax and the Zippy Pronoia Tour was nothing more than a publicity stunt for Wired Magazine.