Has anyone here read "Mein Kampf"?

[DefinitelyNotARobot]

I'm actually interested in reading the book, because I want to find out more about the psychology of someone like Hitler. The human mind taken to it's extremes is something that I'm curious about, since there is a lot you can learn from observing extremes. Hitlers mind must've been a pretty extreme environment so I'd just like to have an insight into how such a mind works. But I'm not sure if that book is really going to give me a coherent insight into the workings of his mind, or if it's just going to a bunch of mad rambling. Maybe it's going to be interesting either way? Have any of you read that book? Did it help you get a better understanding of Hitler. I'm talking about understanding in relation to his psychology, not his political views per se (though both honestly probably go hand in hand).

[Leo Gura]

I tried reading it as a kid. It was so full to stupid ranting that I gave up after 50 pages.

You are much better off just reading a biography of Hilter.

Edited May 12, 2023 by Leo Gura

[Epikur]

3 hours ago, DefinitelyNotARobot said:

I'm actually interested in reading the book, because I want to find out more about the psychology of someone like Hitler. The human mind taken to it's extremes is something that I'm curious about, since there is a lot you can learn from observing extremes. Hitlers mind must've been a pretty extreme environment so I'd just like to have an insight into how such a mind works. But I'm not sure if that book is really going to give me a coherent insight into the workings of his mind, or if it's just going to a bunch of mad rambling. Maybe it's going to be interesting either way? Have any of you read that book? Did it help you get a better understanding of Hitler. I'm talking about understanding in relation to his psychology, not his political views per se (though both honestly probably go hand in hand).

Actually I think it is easy to understand his psychology. He explains it himself very well. He was basically a debatebro, anthropologist. So he was very 'conscious' about what is going on in his brain and of others. That is why it was possible that he could use his propaganda effectively.

 

[Schizophonia]

I read the first pages and it was written haphazardly, very indigestible

[DefinitelyNotARobot]

5 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

You are much better off just reading a biography of Hilter.

Wouldn't reading third party biographies defeat the purpose of the book as a more direct path to his mind?

@RebornConsciousness Where are you from? I'm asking because I want to know which language you read it in. I live in Germany so I could read it in it's original language, but I'm not sure how much of a difference that would make in terms of coherence.

3 hours ago, Epikur said:

So he was very 'conscious' about what is going on in his brain and of others. That is why it was possible that he could use his propaganda effectively.

 

That's interesting. Did you gather that from reading the book? A lot of times propaganda can happen on a subconscious level too, in the sense that someone can come to a certain belief and then pass that belief on to other people who then keep passing it on to the next generation and so on. At a certain point people are simply holding these beliefs without even knowing who they really got it from originally. So I see that also playing a big part in his psyche.

[Leo Gura]

4 hours ago, DefinitelyNotARobot said:

Wouldn't reading third party biographies defeat the purpose of the book as a more direct path to his mind?

Ironically, you often get a more objective and accurate picture of a man from a high quality biographer than you will from his own writings.

Hitler has been studied to death by serious and objective scholars. You don't need to read his ramblings to understand him. It's not like you can really trust Hitler's own words. He's not a good faith actor. It's sort of like reading an autobiography of Trump or Alex Jones. These people are inherently full of shit.

Edited May 13, 2023 by Leo Gura

[Epikur]

9 hours ago, DefinitelyNotARobot said:

Wouldn't reading third party biographies defeat the purpose of the book as a more direct path to his mind?

@RebornConsciousness Where are you from? I'm asking because I want to know which language you read it in. I live in Germany so I could read it in it's original language, but I'm not sure how much of a difference that would make in terms of coherence.

That's interesting. Did you gather that from reading the book? A lot of times propaganda can happen on a subconscious level too, in the sense that someone can come to a certain belief and then pass that belief on to other people who then keep passing it on to the next generation and so on. At a certain point people are simply holding these beliefs without even knowing who they really got it from originally. So I see that also playing a big part in his psyche.

I did not read all of it. I only read the parts where it is more interesting. I did my Abitur in Germany in history btw we read 'Der Untertan' from Heinrich Mann. It deals with the time period and the mindset. You might have a look into it.

I find it interesting how he wrote about how he found the 'truth'. It is even more interesting how he became a 'debatebro' who challenged jews. He got very frustrated that the jews lost the debate but never accepted that they lost. He then tried to convince the workers. He wrote how difficult it was to convince them.



 

[hyruga]

Don't forget many German leaders at that time supported the war against the Jews. Hitler was one of the leaders who became the top leader.

[Epikur]

2 hours ago, hyruga said:

Don't forget many German leaders at that time supported the war against the Jews. Hitler was one of the leaders who became the top leader.

Interesting thing is that Germany was said to be seen as the least anti jewish country at that time compared to France and England till WW1.

[DefinitelyNotARobot]

5 hours ago, Epikur said:

I did my Abitur in Germany in history btw we read 'Der Untertan' from Heinrich Mann. It deals with the time period and the mindset. You might have a look into it.

Thanks I'll have a look at it!

5 hours ago, Epikur said:

He got very frustrated that the jews lost the debate but never accepted that they lost.

It's funny how little humans have changed. Just replace Hitler and the Jews with any two groups of people that hate each other and you basically end up in the same conundrum. You have progressives making videos on Andrew Tate debates, roasting him for getting "utterly destroyed" in the debate, while conservatives will make a video on the same debate and say that Andrew Tate "totally dominated" the other participants. It's an interesting game to observe.

5 hours ago, RebornConsciousness said:

You are in a difficult position if you're living in Germany and want to buy an actual physical copy in actual German language. You can get it in Czech republic, but you probably don't know czech. So you might want to look around on the internet, maybe you'll find something idk.

I actually just found out that there is a version available to the public online.