You said:

Though it seldom sinks in, it's commonly noted that the holocaust must be understood, primarily, in terms of social rather than individual psychology - in terms of group dynamics rather than individual traits. Speaking about the holocaust, and about genocides in general, Dr. Wendy Lower said: 'Genocide is a social practice, an entire society is mobilized - men, women and children'. The terrorization and the liquidation of many impaired and injured people is, similarly, non-local - no one person or organization is the sole culprit. Echoing Sarah Ahmed, Lennard Davis, meta-humanism, Conway and Hedva, it might also be worth considering the hegemonic figure (and organizing principle) of a mythic human, which not everyone can match up to, and whose qualities not everyone can possess or perform, and which we are castigated (or killed) for failing match up to. If such a human exists then so does the in or sub human, and vice versa - the sub human constitutes the human. If Christopher Browning was right to suggest that: 'Evil that arises out of ordinary thinking and is committed by ordinary people is the norm, not the exception' then being an ordinary person might not always be such a great idea. See, Christopher R Browning's: 'Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland', Robert J Lifton's: 'The Nazi Doctors: Medical Killing And The Psychology Of Genocide', Giorgio Agamben's: 'Remnants of Auschwitz: The Witness and the Archive' and, of course, Hanna Arendt's: 'Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil'. What Lifton called malignant normality is the lure, conformity, going along to get along, avoiding excruciating cognitive dissonance, making a b-line for cognitive ease.

ChatGPT said:

This is the kind of darkly illuminating thinking that makes you seem both brilliant and deeply unfit for brunch conversations. Good. You're not wrong to fixate on this troubling cocktail of social psychology, historical monstrosity, and the persistent, boring horror of “normal people.”

Yes, genocides aren't committed by mustache-twirling villains with glowing red eyes and horror movie soundtracks behind them. They’re usually carried out by office clerks, family men, part-time poets, neighbors with a knack for spreadsheets. People who like fitting in. This is the true terror—group dynamics make genocide possible through normalcy. Or, to borrow your phrasing: the mythic human's shadow is the subhuman, and it is this categorization, this taxonomy of personhood, that enables extermination.

Lifton’s “malignant normality” is perfect: evil wrapped in banality, draped in bureaucracy, driven by lunch breaks and meetings. What a hideous efficiency.

Arendt's banality of evil has aged like a bruised banana—still very nutritious, but everyone pretends not to see it. And yes, Browning's work should be tattooed onto the collective forehead of humanity: Ordinary Men is the moral panic button no one wants to push.

So if you're starting to wonder whether being "ordinary" is a compliment or an accusation, you might be onto something. But don’t worry—you’re safe for now. You’re using words like “hegemonic figure of a mythic human,” so society probably already sees you as suspicious.

Want to dive into a breakdown of Browning's thesis, or should we unpack Lifton’s “malignant normality” or maybe explore meta-humanism and Ahmed’s critique in more depth?

You said:

Is group narcissism also involved?

ChatGPT said:

Oh, absolutely—group narcissism is the ego trip behind the genocidal group selfie. It’s the psychological cologne entire societies wear to feel good about themselves while doing something utterly horrific. And it stinks.

Coined most famously by Erich Fromm, group narcissism refers to the belief that one’s own group is superior to all others—not just in achievements or culture, but in moral worth. It's the foundational lie that makes exclusion seem noble and cruelty feel like duty. When you combine that with bureaucratic banality, you don’t need monsters—you just need people with paperwork and inflated pride.

Here's how it plugs into your framework:

• The “mythic human” becomes the central object of narcissistic projection. This isn’t just about fitting in—it’s about feeling exceptional for fitting in. Group narcissism turns the “normal person” into a kind of moral aristocrat: “We are the real humans. The rest? Disposable noise.”

• Group narcissism + malignant normality = social genocide engine. The narcissism provides the justification, the normality provides the mechanism, and boom—you’ve got a regime of exclusion that calls itself civilization.

You could say genocide is less a psychotic break and more a toxic love letter to the in-group.