The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
action activity acts after-image animal areas aroused attention attitude basilar membrane become beliefs body centers central nervous central nervous system cerebellum cerebral cortex cerebrum changes chapter character characteristics civilisation cochlea color color blindness complex consciousness coördinated cord crowds direct discussion dissociation ence evolution example excitation experience external fact factors fibers forms of behavior function fusion hand higher human hypnosis ideas ideational illusion images imagination impulses individual influence inner instincts intensity introspection light ment mind motor movement muscles muscular nerve cells nervous processes nervous system normal object observer opinions organ of Corti perception physical present prestige primitive psychology qualities reaction recognition recognized result retina scala tympani scientific semicircular canals sensations sensory impressions sentiments single social sound space perception spinal cord stimulation surface tactual tendency thought tion tympanic membrane vibrations visual words
Popular passages
Page 166 - It is, I think, agreed by all that Distance, of itself and immediately, cannot be seen. For, distance being a line directed endwise to the eye, it projects only one point in the fund of the eye, which point remains invariably the same, whether the distance be longer or shorter.
Page 1 - The understanding, like the eye, whilst it makes us see and perceive all other things, takes no notice of itself; and it requires art and pains to set it at a distance, and make it its own object.
Page 12 - Isolated, he may be a cultivated individual; in a crowd, he is a barbarian — that is, a creature acting by instinct. He possesses the spontaneity, the violence, the ferocity, and also the enthusiasm and heroism of primitive beings...
Page 166 - I find it also acknowledged that the estimate we make of the distance of objects considerably remote is rather an act of judgment grounded on experience than of sense. For example, when I perceive a great number of intermediate objects, such as houses, fields, rivers, and the like, which I have experienced to take up a considerable space, I thence form a judgment or conclusion, that the object I see beyond them is at a great distance. Again, when an object appears...
Page 6 - Whoever be the individuals that compose it, however like or unlike be their mode of life, their occupations, their character, or their intelligence, the fact that they have been transformed into a crowd puts them in possession of a sort of collective mind which makes them feel, think, and act in a manner quite different from that in which each individual of them would feel, think, and act were he in a state of isolation.
Page 3 - Thousands of isolated individuals may acquire at certain moments, and under the influence of certain violent emotions— such, for example, as a great national event— the characteristics of a psychological crowd. It will be sufficient in that case that a mere chance should bring them together for their acts to at once assume the characteristics peculiar to the acts of a crowd.
Page 9 - The first is that the individual forming part of a crowd acquires, solely from numerical considerations, a sentiment of invincible power which allows him to yield to instincts which, had he been alone, he would perforce have kept under restraint.
Page xvi - The divine right of the masses is about to replace the divine right of kings," and already "the destinies of nations are elaborated at present in the heart of the masses, and no longer in the councils of princes.
Page 42 - Appeals to sentiments of glory, honour, and patriotism are particularly likely to influence the individual forming part of a crowd, and often to the extent of obtaining from him the sacrifice of his life. History is rich in examples analogous to those furnished by the Crusaders and the volunteers of 1793. Collectivities alone are capable of great disinterestedness and great devotion.
Page 9 - ... acquires, solely from numerical considerations, a sentiment of invincible power which allows him to yield to instincts which, had he been alone, he would perforce have kept under restraint. He will be the less disposed to check himself from the consideration that, a group being anonymous, and in consequence irresponsible, the sentiment of responsibility which always controls individuals disappears entirely.