The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind

Rating:
Summary: hitler and mussolini
Review: Granted, much of what Le Bon writes in The Crowd went over my head. At the same time, a good portion is clear enough for the layperson to grasp.

Rating:
Summary: 9/11 and 'The Crowd'
Review: I think the reviewer Derek Pillion summed up this book rather well. But I want to relate something that came into my mind after reading the following passage from chapter III:

"A hundred petty crimes or petty accidents will not strike the imagination of crowds in the least, whereas a single great crime or a single great accident will profoundly impress them, even though the results be infinitely less disastrous than those of the hundred small accidents put together.

The epidemic of influenza, which caused the death but a few years ago of five thousand persons in Paris alone, made very little impression on the popular imagination. The reason was that this veritable hecatomb was not embodied in any visible image, but was only learnt from statistical information furnished weekly.

An accident which should have caused the death of only five hundred instead of five thousand persons, but on the same day and in public, as the outcome of an accident appealing stronly to the eye, by the fall for instance of the Eiffel Tower [sic], would have produced, on the contrary, an immense impression on the imagination of the crowd.

... To know the art of impressing the imagination of crowds is to know at the same time the art of governing them."

What came into my mind after reading that passage? Airplanes and collapsing towers. This book is a must read for any thinking person.

Rating:
Summary: Important and general
Review: Many will attack the presentation, and fail to bring in the age of the work, not published in English until 1896. It is not a book for number crunchers and specialists, but rather a generalized manual. Sweeping generalizations abound to the same extent as the Communist Manifesto or The True Believer. All three should be required reading along with other generalized political tracts, like Common Sense and The Prince.

Rating:
Summary: Ignore Negatives
Review: Some reviewers here have had disparaging remarks about Le Bon's "The Crowd" but I found it very satisfying. Sure, there are some sweeping generalizations, but don't let that stop you. I first came upon the title while researching the reasons behind Hitler's triumph over the German people. During the research, I learned that "The Crowd" had a significant influence on Hitler and he used many of Le Bon's models for his own efforts to persuade. Considering that "The Crowd" was written in the late 1800's, this book is amazing.

Rating:
Summary: Ignore Negatives
Review: Some reviewers here have had disparaging remarks about Le Bon's "The Crowd" but I found it very satisfying. Sure, there are some sweeping generalizations, but don't let that stop you. I first came upon the title while researching the reasons behind Hitler's triumph over the German people. During the research, I learned that "The Crowd" had a significant influence on Hitler and he used many of Le Bon's models for his own efforts to persuade. Considering that "The Crowd" was written in the late 1800's, this book is amazing.

Rating:
Summary: worth a look
Review: This book is definitely full of stereotypes and sweeping generalizations. However, that does not negate the value of this study. There is a lot of useful information about controlling and understanding crowd behavior here.

Rating:
Summary: worth a look
Review: This book is filled with generalizations and class based stereotypes. All of its assertions have been refuted by actual study (see tim couch, coser etc.) However, this is credited as the first book on crowd psychology. If you interested in seeing what everybody is refuting, pick it up. However, if you want to truly understand the nature of crowds this book is a waste if time. I'd liken it to the Bell Curve, hilarious in its assertions but a good framework to refute

Rating:
Summary: More insightful than Macchiavelli
Review: This is a short book whose pages have a far greater impact than the title might suggest. As many reviewers have already noted, the book simply explains the mechanisms that guide the popualr imagination and outlines the simple principles that enable the few who grasp them to hold control over vast populations. What struck me particulalry was how the recipes for power suggested by Gustave Le Bon are reflected in contemporary neo-liberal economic and socio-cultural agendas. Those who are involved in developing education policies will find the book especially useful. Writing over a century ago,Le Bon criticized the liberal education system and advocated the more common sense practical type of learning that neo-liberal agendas have been pushing for since the late 70's. It also makes a strong case for the impact of simple messages over crowds. Common sense arguments, logic and thoughtful concerns, LE Bon argues, are lost on the masses. Indeed, it is widely believed that this was one of Benito Mussolini's favorite books. We are living ever more in an era of simplistic thinking. By reading this book you will understand how this has occurred and how demagogues rise to power. As with another reviewer, I also stay away from crowds. This book unraveled the unconscious instincts that always make me avoid crowds and anything that is too popular.

Rating:
Summary: Why I Avoid Large Groups of People.
Review: _The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind_ by French social theorist Gustave LeBon is a short treatise on the principles of large gatherings of people. As the disclaimer on the title page notes, the ideas in LeBon's book were popular at the time of the late 19th century but are no longer in vogue today. The reasons for this are obvious, as LeBon unpretentiously puts to fault all the rhetoric about "democracy," "equality," "fraternity," and "equality" as being mere catchphrases that self-serving demagouges use to control the spirit of the masses. He cites the French Revoloution and the demands of Socialism and Communism during his time. LeBon outlines the way crowds tend to think (in vivid images illogically connected), how they reason (they don't for all practical purposes), how they express exaggerated emotion, how they are very quick to take action without coherent thought and of the general extreme-conservativism and intolerance of crowds. The individual who becomes part of a crowd tends to loose himself, and feels invincible as he is aware of the similarity of mind and purpose of all those surrounding him. LeBon notes how individuals become unthinking entities of the Herd, and can be unconsciously made to do acts, which can either be of great criminality or heroism. The reasoning of the solitary individual is superior to that of a crowd which has no individuality. All are "equal" in a crowd where, for instance, a mathemetician is caught up in the same spirit as a laborer and class and intelligece differences fall to the lowest common denominator. One advangage of crowds is that they can express the spirit of a class, caste, or race of a people better than the individual can, and that crowds are capable of great deeds such as victory in a war or the spread of a religion that would be beyond simply one person's effort. The back title of _The Crowd_ mentions that Hitler, Mussolini in addition to Freud were familiar with LeBon's work, and it is readily apparent that their followers acted very similar to the behavior that LeBon describes. The basic point of _The Crowd_ is this: For Bettor or Worse, Never Underestimate the Power of Stupid People in Large Groups.

Rating:
Summary: Why I Avoid Large Groups of People.
Review: _The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind_ by French social theorist Gustave LeBon is a short treatise on the principles of large gatherings of people. As the disclaimer on the title page notes, the ideas in LeBon's book were popular at the time of the late 19th century but are no longer in vogue today. The reasons for this are obvious, as LeBon unpretentiously puts to fault all the rhetoric about "democracy," "equality," "fraternity," and "equality" as being mere catchphrases that self-serving demagouges use to control the spirit of the masses. He cites the French Revoloution and the demands of Socialism and Communism during his time. LeBon outlines the way crowds tend to think (in vivid images illogically connected), how they reason (they don't for all practical purposes), how they express exaggerated emotion, how they are very quick to take action without coherent thought and of the general extreme-conservativism and intolerance of crowds. The individual who becomes part of a crowd tends to loose himself, and feels invincible as he is aware of the similarity of mind and purpose of all those surrounding him. LeBon notes how individuals become unthinking entities of the Herd, and can be unconsciously made to do acts, which can either be of great criminality or heroism. The reasoning of the solitary individual is superior to that of a crowd which has no individuality. All are "equal" in a crowd where, for instance, a mathemetician is caught up in the same spirit as a laborer and class and intelligece differences fall to the lowest common denominator. One advangage of crowds is that they can express the spirit of a class, caste, or race of a people better than the individual can, and that crowds are capable of great deeds such as victory in a war or the spread of a religion that would be beyond simply one person's effort. The back title of _The Crowd_ mentions that Hitler, Mussolini in addition to Freud were familiar with LeBon's work, and it is readily apparent that their followers acted very similar to the behavior that LeBon describes. The basic point of _The Crowd_ is this: For Bettor or Worse, Never Underestimate the Power of Stupid People in Large Groups.