The DSMV V defines a delusion as: ‘fixed beliefs that are not amenable to change in light of conflicting evidence’. This is why Zero is a delusion.

A delusion can emerge from a belief but, a belief is not necessarily a delusion. A delusion is neither a hallucination or delirium. The real test of a delusion is the effort to try and enact it. In the face of the reality of fallibility, any effort to act on the notion of perfection of anything in the human world, is bound to fail. The denial of fallibility is the great safety delusion. (https://www.humandymensions.com/product/fallibility-risk-living-uncertainty/).

 There is nothing more farcical than zero organisations counting injury rates and buying insurance.

All delusions are a dysfunction and a sign of a mental health disorder. Perfectionism itself is listed as a major mental health disorder in the DSMV V.

When someone tries to hold to a delusion in the face of the evidence they invent (through cognitive dissonance) all kinds of reasons as to why the delusion is true. This is best observed in cults (Festinger – https://archive.org/details/FestingerLeonATheoryOfCognitiveDissonance1968StanfordUniversityPress). And, there are plenty of cults in safety.

Consciousness of cultic identifiers and behaviours is an essential protection for not falling for a cult. This requires some expertise in Religious Studies, something in which Safety shows no interest. Which of course, makes the safety industry more susceptible to cults.

Healthy people can demarcate boundaries between the internal world of imagination and dreaming, those in safety schizophrenia cannot. Zero is not part of the real world where fallibility is the reality and mortality are normal (https://safetyrisk.net/zero-is-a-delusion/ ).

But there are many more safety delusions where Safety holds beliefs in denial of the evidence. For example, that life, being and events are linear, that safety is a choice, that orthodoxy is ‘different’, data is information (https://safetyrisk.net/the-safety-data-delusion/), all accidents are preventable, objective certainty and, slogans as ethical principles or a methodology.

Safety is clearly an industry that maintains delusions in its own culture (safety culture) that are in conflict with the general culture. This is amplified by indoctrination (safety curriculum) and the attraction of income maintained by the delusion (sunk cost).

In cults and religious groups, false beliefs are defended regardless of contrary evidence. Such is the strength of the belief that these groups are able to hold conflicting beliefs depending on what culture they are in. In this way a zero=safety zealot can maintain zero in safety in an organisation then, on the same day walk into a doctor’s surgery and accept non-zero in medical reality. This is why safety schizophrenia is common in the safety industry. Such binary belief is an identifier of being delusional and cultic.

There is extensive research on the nature of delusions. Perhaps the best is by Falcato and Goncalves (2024) The Philosophy and Psychology of Delusions Historical and Contemporary Perspectives or Zuk and Zuk (2005) The Psychology of Delusion.

One of the characteristics of trying to live a delusion is how the conflict of cultures are juggled politically and ethically. The real problem with delusions and false beliefs is how they harm people (politically and morally), when they are enacted. Expecting perfection from mortal, fallible people will always result in brutalism.

In the safety world we see this in event investigations and unethical outcomes resulting from populist trends that promise the impossible with no basis in a methodology.

Indeed, in safety, very few articulate an ontology or methodology in what they sell. Many don’t even know what their own methodology is, they are just happy with five slogans. What eventuates, once the slogans are discovered to be pointless is, they develop more slogans (as an act in cognitive dissonance) or a new sub-movement (eg. SD, RE, NV, HOP and S2). This is just evidence of more sunk cost, inability to articulate a methodology and a fear of learning.

In SPoR, our methodology and methods are clearly articulated (https://www.humandymensions.com/product/spor-and-semiotics/). These are positive, practical and focus on ethical practice, where humans are prioritised over systems and personhood is prioritised over safety.