A Century Of The Self Happiness Machine Analysis

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In his documentary, A Century of the Self: Happiness Machines, Adam Curtis illustrates that Sigmund Freud had developed a new theory that human beings cannot be trusted with what they wanted. In other words, he believed that people must always be controlled. With the idea that they know what the nation is thinking, those in power used Freuds theory to help keep individuals within their limits. Additionally, if they do not command, individuals and communities will be discontented, which would lead to chaos and destruction. Moreover, Curtis maintained that Edward Bernays, who was Freuds nephew was the first to put his theory to practice. Bernays argued that manipulation was necessary in a democratic society and throughout the documentary, it

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