重庆大学外国语学院 重庆 401331
【Abstract】TheCrowds：AStudyofthePopularMind,writtenbyGustaveLeBonin1895,occupiedthestatusofthetrailblazerinpubicpsychology.Thebookaimstoshowthatcrowdsactunconsciouslyinsteadofrationally.Itstartsformthegeneralcharacteristicsofcrowdmindsthatserveasthefoundationofhistheory,andthengoestotheapparentphenomenalikeopinions,beliefsandleaders.Atlast,asanapplicationoftheabovetheory,itclassifiesthecrowds.
【Key words】Gustave；crowds；psychology
I read the book in this month and I think it has offered a profound study of an important social behavior and phenomenon and therefore it becomes one the most influential small books in the world.
Le Bon’s focus is primarily on the factors and attitudes that lead to the formation of heterogeneous, such as those of street mobs, other forms of “collectivities”which spring up in more spontaneous fashion that homogeneous crowds, such as those grouping of people formed around sects or castes.
From Le Bon’s observations on mass psychology are not merely confined to low social classes, but on the dominating effects that mass populism can have over all peoples.
There are of course similarities in terms of forming factors and traits between the two distinctions, such as belief systems, the former with more trend based and transient beliefs, such as artistic and populist sentiments, and the latter with more rigid generalized beliefs, such as race, national ideologies, and established and unifying religious beliefs.
“The psychological crowd is a provisional being formed of heterogeneous elements, which for a moment are combined, exactly as the cells which constitute a living body form by their reunion a new being which displays characteristics very different from those possessed by each of the cells singly.
Becoming a psychological crowd, a gathering of individuals “forms a single being, and is subject to the law of the mental unity of the crowd.” (Ibid). A crowd is a psychological collectivity wherein no trace of individual autonomy in feeling and thinking is found, and individual feelings and thinking are ironed into a collective mind. “While a psychological crowd is a provisional being formed of heterogeneous elements”, the most striking peculiarity of such a crowd is that all individuals that compose a crowd are turned to think and feel in one direction, and with one mind.
Towards the close of the book, Le Bon states similar aspects to heterogeneous or “psychological” crowds in more homogeneous groups: such as the juries, judges and even authorities. However, he concludes is overall observation that such long established traditional institutions present a buffer to the more rules.
It would seem that collectivized human thought can have either positive attributes or negative ones, depending on whether individuals composing their ranks have surrendered their individual responsibilities to the will of a mob under the assumptive will of a leader. It is tempting to apply the label of mob rule to concepts such as the modern democratic process, and large scale corruption of interconnected methods of communication, such as the one you are reading the review through.
This in turn brings the collective intellectual faculties of the masses down to the level of the lowest common denominator.What is all the more worrying is that this is happening right under our nose. Take a look around when you are next in a city, and just take in what you see; I can guarantee you will notice just how much the masses have turned in on themselves, running away from logic and individuality, and accepting the open invitation to unite with those around them, regardless of whether or not their views are shared.
Referencecatalogue：
[1]TheCrowds：AStudyofthePopularMindGustaveLeBon.