Today's society is a group society, especially in China, a country where collectivism has prevailed since ancient times, learning to understand the psychology of social groups and gain insight into people's hearts is particularly important for social and individual success.
Back when I was in college, I read a book about the psychology of social groups. This book is very controversial, some say that it is a masterpiece that reveals the psychology of social groups, while others say that it is a garbage book with no logic.
However, many people have never actually opened the book, which is just over 130 pages. After I read this book and stepped into society, I realized how true the book's description of social groups is.
This book is the book of the French psychiatrist Le Pen - "The Rabble".
Yes, when you see the name of the book, you know that this is a book that studies groups, but apparently the author does not have a very good impression of groups, calling them rabble.
However, if we simply put aside this flaw and turn to the contents, we will benefit a lot.
The book begins with an introduction to the study of the psychology of social groups—heterogeneous groups. To put it simply, it is a group of different people with the same views and goals.
A rabble on my bookshelfThat's right, social groups are one of them. Such groups are everywhere in today's online world. People who hold a variety of opinions on the Internet naturally form psychological groups.
The same is true in societyGroups that believe in unmarriage, groups that believe in the sophistication of human feelings, patriotic groups, and well-known groups. And so on and so forth. Obviously, we look at the world todayThe group studied in this book now pervades society as a whole.
That's where the value of this book comes in, and it's easy to find real-life examples of the objects in the book.
After classifying the psychological objects of the group, we arrive at the core part of the book - the psychological characteristics of the group.
When I read this part, I really saw the shadow of today's social groups in the book. For example, the book says: "Once an individual becomes a member of a group in a certain situation, that person's personality and intelligence dissipate."
The personality and intelligence of an individual in a group are usually diametrically opposed to themselves. People in a group have a common collective psychology, and this psychology is not a simple sum of everyone's psychology.
This collective psychology tends to be more paranoid, courageous, and easily agitated. In those psychological groups, people will unconsciously release their nature.
The book mentions:"The group is anonymous, so the individuals in the group are not responsible. In this way, the sense of responsibility that always binds the individual disappears completely in the group, and the individual can do whatever he wants. ”
That is to say, after forming a group, people will have similar thoughts about not being held accountable by the law, and they will be more eager to do things that they once did not dare to do and things that they did not dare to say.
Just like some people in society today, if the number of groups of opinions is very large, in some areas under the rule of these groups, if someone puts forward a different point of view or criticism than the group, it will beSoon the person will receive verbal criticism from a group of people.
Sometimes, groups do bad things and don't get the punishment they deserve. Some people use the banner of the group to satisfy their selfish desires.
Blacks in some European and American countries, as well as those madmen who are keen on postmodernism, and those fanatical nationalists, are often not immediately sanctioned.
Hitler's fanatical supporters faced those who took to the streets, many of whom were not mere slogans at all, and many of whom simply used the crowd to satisfy their innermost desires.
Especially the book mentions:"If a person is in a group, his courage grows exponentially. ”This is because the power of the crowd is enormous.
Once a person is placed in a certain psychological group, then he will feel a force. Because he knows that there are many people like him, and when faced with some enemies or the views and actions of some opposing groups, the individual will stand up without hesitation.
The courage given by this group is both good and bad.
The author writes in the book,This courage has made those who have no hesitation in dedicating themselves to liberal peopleism, and those who have sacrificed themselves for the ideals of the community.
But at the same time, it also creates savage saboteurs, horrific fascists, and people who love violence.
The strength and courage of this kind of group often requires a correct guidance.
In addition, the author mentions:"Groups are very susceptible to emotions and are receptive to suggestion. ”
The so-called implication is those various theories and opinions, those different ideas and practices. These different thoughts and behaviors are very easy to impress the group.
In other words, some conclusive theories, no matter how many loopholes in their logic, will always have a group of people who believe in it. This is because groups are very susceptible to emotional rendering.
The book reads: "The intelligence of the group is always inferior to that of the individual, but the emotion of the group is stronger than that of the individual." ”The wisdom of the group, while biased here, is generally true.
Because even the brightest scientists, the most logical philosophers, or the scholars, the intellectuals, and so on. If they think in a group, their individual wisdom will be submerged in the group.
Like the most primitive and direct democracy in Athens, a group of jurors in the court, and so on, there was no shortage of experts and scholars in these groups, but when it came to making decisions, these wise individuals were often unable to use their wisdom.
The same is true of the parliamentary system in Western countries.
These intellectuals gossip in parliament, and everyone has their own opinionBut when it comes to the interests of the group they represent behind them, they can only obediently make some not-so-correct votes.
Because the people of the group always have to take care of the interests of the group, so many individuals in the group have their own opinions, and in order to unify the voice, they can only compromise in the end.
After pointing out the general characteristics of the group, the book further points out the personality traits behind the group characteristics.
For example, groups are susceptible to the exaggeration of emotions, which are often simplistic and exaggerated. The book reads:"The crowd is only moved by extreme emotions, and a speaker who wishes to impress the crowd must speak out. ”
For example, it is mentioned in the book:"Any idea can only be universally accepted by the community if it is kept in a very simple way. ”
In addition to simple and exaggerated emotions, the book also mentions that groups are very keen on power and decisiveness.
The worship of Alexander by the Greek people is as written in the book"The crowd bows down to the powerful, but shows no mercy to the weak. ”Looking at the current society, nodding to the superior leaders, and there are few examples of people at the bottom who are embarrassed by each other everywhere?
"Pure and simple assertions, discarding all reasoning and evidence, are one of the surest ways to get an idea into the minds of the group. ”
This sentence in the book is to the point, and the crowd always likes those simple and powerful words, just like those politicians perform when they speak, and there are always many fanatical followers.
In addition to these, the book also makes a lot of analyses of the characteristics and psychological characteristics of the group, and I will not discuss them all in the limited space. In addition to the analysis of these characteristics,What touched me the most in the book was the analysis of leaders, rulers, and heroes.
The book mentions:"All the founders of empires, the apostles of the faith, or the mediocre, the leaders of a group, are unconscious psychologists;They have an instinctive but often reliable understanding of group personalities. ”
Yes, as the book says, the leaders of these groups are often very aware of the psychological character of the group. Only then will they be able to convince the group and be able to lead it.
In the book, the author mentions that the group itself unconsciously distinguishes hierarchies and tries to select the leader of the group. Because the cohesion of the group needs to be organized by one person.
In turn, the leader of the group used to be a part of the group, and he gradually saw through the character characteristics of the group in the group, so as to convince more people of him.
The leaders and leaders of these groups know very well that the group is keen on fantasy and fame, and that the group has its own excitement attributes.
The book reads:"Whoever can make the group provide illusions can easily become their masters, and whoever disillusions them will become their victims. ”
It is precisely because of this that the leaders and heroes always give the group some promises and dreams, and the group believes that this leader can lead them to realize, so they lift him up to the sky, if this illusion is shatteredThese former heroes will soon be guillotined by the group.
Those who died in the world revolution or in the reform of the country, their reputation for good and bad at that time is enough to prove this.
The author also summarizes three secrets for leaders to influence the group, and that is:Simple, repetitive, contagious.
That's rightNapoleon said, "There is only one most important figure of speech, and that is repetition." ”
Napoleon's leaders and leaders were always keen to repeat and repeat one thing, a slogan, which would soon be engraved in everyone's mind.
The easiest way to get the crowd to remember and believe those words is indeed to repeat them. This is also the principle at the heart of overwhelming advertising.
Not to mention the group's acceptance of simple theories, the book reads"The words with the most ambiguous meanings are sometimes the most influential, and the images they evoke do not depend on their original meanings.
Words like democracy, freedom, etc., have hundreds of meanings and are very vague, and it is these words that have spawned a large number of fierce group quarrels, and people in different countries and societies have brought up different images when they mention these words.
The group loves this vague word the most. Just like the popular words that have become popular on the Internet in recent years, no one cares about the original meaning of the wordsBecause as soon as people hear this word, they will remember a certain ** or image that the word originally transmitted.
There are also many views on the fame of heroes and successful people, as well as on phenomena such as education and religion, and I will not list them all in this limited space.
In short, the book "The Rabble" has caused me a lot to think about.
I have gained a deeper understanding of today's social groups and of the leaders and managers, and of the noisy groups.
It is true that this book also has many shortcomings, the author's Western-centrism, prejudice against women and children, and prejudice against Eastern civilization against the Latin people, etc., but this does not hinder the value of this book. No book is perfect.
So, I highly recommend reading this book.
Especially those young people who are going to enter the society, or ordinary people who are struggling in society, in order to prevent themselves from becoming a rabble, let themselves have more thinking about the group and understand more human feelings;
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