Erich Fromm, a well known psychoanalyst and author from the past, believed that people were afraid of freedom and so were driven to abandon it. He believed that the reason was that they basically wanted to be automatons, as he called them, and surrender their minds to the collective. He claimed this was because of the threat of isolation from independence, which could make them easily disagreeable to the group, which was too much for them to bear.
There's obviously some truth in this, as we know that people are afraid of not fitting in, but I think seeing most people as 'automatons' who confuse group beliefs with their own is not entirely realistic.
In my view--and as I have long seen it--we all have two minds. One is the private mind and the other is the socialised mind. The socialised mind is the mind that plays along to get along, whereas the private mind is where we have our own thoughts directly, and in a context where other people (and their social pressures) basically do not exist.
In my view, people find themselves under heavy pressure to live in their socialised mind when they're in a socially insecure context. I think this is created through over-crowding, forced associations, and authoritarian oppression (think of Islam's morality police, for an example).
You could say someone is close to being a Frommian automaton when their lives have been dominated by the need to live in the socialised mind, and to the point where the private mind is under-developed. These types may only be comfortable within groups.
I think an over-socialised mind is achieved in part with schooling (which is chronic over-crowding with forced associations), and parental intimidation working as an in-house morality police. There are deep psychological drivers that keep people away from their private zone as well, such as the massive trauma of a baby being isolated from the mother immediately after birth. This makes many people feel anxious when being alone, as it can trigger old trauma.
In saying all this, I think we know what we need to do to avoid a Brave New World type society, where the socialised mind is near-totally dominant over the private mind. Just give kids less early trauma - and more personal space.
And finally, I think the private mind itself needs to be socially affirmed. People need to be able to express true personal thoughts to others in private conversations, so to develop natural confidence within their private or more 'real' mind. They shouldn't be too worried about the morality police telling them they're crazy, for maybe thinking what the socialised minds never think.
Andrew Atkin, December 2025
