The White Bear Principle

After last night's Black Mirror, I couldn’t stop thinking about ironic processing and mind control. Social psychologist David M. Wegner studied experimental psychology with a focus on mind control, and he coined the term “the white bear phenomenon”. The name derives from an alleged Dostoevsky quote that says: “Try to pose for yourself this task: not to think of a polar bear, and you will see that the cursed thing will come to mind every minute”.





I couldn’t find an original source, but perhaps Charlie Brooker’s message is more effective if the Dostoevsky quote is taken out of context, or simply some misattributed Internet legend.

Regardless, Lenora Crinchlow’s character personified Wegner’s theory, and her journey displayed the end result of his studies: when we are told to suppress a certain thought, it often becomes an obsession, and we are unable to think of anything else. Though her memory is wiped at the end of each day, the images of her past offense as well as her previous trips through the Justice Park remain in her subconscious.

I think the principle is also applicable to the “innocent” bystanders, who giddily chose to participate in torturing the convicted prisoner. For me, the truly horrific part of the episode wasn’t the futuristic justice angle, which was reminiscent of Stephen King's Running Man novel. It was the overwhelming interest and participation of the general public that delivered an unsettling feeling.

It reminded me of the Streisand effect, and the more recent Beyonce/unflattering Super Bowl photos, and the countless other pointless “news” stories our society obsesses over. The White Bear Principle rules the Internet. If we hear there’s a leaked sex tape that features two D-list celebrities, we will seek it out, even if we have no interest in pornography or the celebrities in question. If we are given the chance to gawk and pass judgement on a previously unknown person or celebrity, we will take it.

We relish our part in the social media obsession, and we covet being the first to view or participate in these arbitrary occurrences, which wouldn’t matter to us at all if the media and Internet hive mind didn’t dictate that it should. According to Wegner’s studies, there isn’t much we can do about it. It is a deeply-seated subconscious reaction, which makes it difficult to control, and that misguided mob mentality is more dangerous than the acts of a single child murderer.