Bedloam
A cumulative process in which increasingly disordered behaviour becomes normalised through adaptation to prior atrocities, entrenching conditions that generate progressively more severe harm over time.
The history of warfare is a textbook example of bedloam — each new conflict escalates because societies adapt to the atrocities of the last.
Watching social media spiral into increasingly toxic outrage feels like a kind of bedloam, where every previous scandal lowers the bar for what’s considered extreme.
Once you understand bedloam, you see how historical injustices can create the conditions for even worse behaviour today.
Watching social media spiral into increasingly toxic outrage feels like a kind of bedloam, where every previous scandal lowers the bar for what’s considered extreme.
Once you understand bedloam, you see how historical injustices can create the conditions for even worse behaviour today.
Bedloam by Brett Dusk February 11, 2026
