https://www.climateskeptic.org/p/an-extraordinary-popular-delusion
An Extraordinary Popular Delusion
By Guy de la Bédoyère – A review of Implausible by Chris Morrison
Implausible, by Chris Morrison (Free Speech Press, 2026)
Movements obsessed with the imminent end of the world have recurred throughout history. They all share the conviction that Armageddon will be caused by the sins of humanity, and that only self-flagellation will propitiate the angry gods. They’re usually fixated with coercing others into the same mindset.
In the past these movements were religious in nature. God, or any god, they claimed was enraged by evil human beings who therefore needed punishing. We, however, live in a secular age. The present orthodoxy has been recast in a bizarre contemporary conflation of pseudoscience and religious fervour to create a unique variant on ancient and medieval mentalities. “Orthodoxy means not thinking — not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness.” (George Orwell, 1984.)
Chris Morrison’s Implausible is a short book (100 pages) which these days, when a gnat’s attention span is about the most any author gets, is a good idea. The cover has some wonderful headlines from recent years. My favourite is the Guardian’s ‘Joanna Lumley says wartime-rationing could help solve climate crisis’ (October 26th 2021). What’s next? Climate Crisis Precautions wardens berating residents with a revived “Put That Light Out!” and “Turn That Boiler Off!”?
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Guy de la Bédoyère is a historian and writer with numerous books to his credit, most concerned with the ancient world though his latest is The Confessions of Samuel Pepys (Abacus 2025).
