The Genius Of The Crowd

[Mike]

gifEn61dZBc


Some people have a bit of magic in them. Some don't.

You have to earn that magic, often thru suffering and toil and effort. It's not given to you at birth.

When I view the world today, I don't see it as black vs white, left vs right, straight vs gay, etc. I see it as people who are willing to earn their bit of magic and those that aren't.

Earning your magic involves facing controversy nobly and courageously and conquering it.

Those that can't face controversy nobly and courageously are manufacturing phony controversy and blaming it on those that have faced and conquered theirs...making villains out of heroes and heroes out of villains.

You can't earn your magic in a "safe space". It may be cozy there but you make an enormous sacrifice by staying. You sacrifice your magic. Those that sacrifice their magic will always resent those that don't. And then they will try to destroy them. They have to destroy them, because to view them is to be constantly reminded of their weakness.

Those that forsake their magic can not or will not become conquerors, so they forge their identities by becoming victims. The only way to even the playing field for a coward is to destroy the field altogether and create an entirely different game. They can't cop to their hatred and envy, so they instead package it all in phony notions of love and compassion.

This wonderful and brilliant poem by Charles Bukowski sums all this up perfectly. It's not even 2 mins long. His poetry is spare and direct and honest. Totally without pretension. Enjoy.

This thread inspired by Constance and Brian Schaefer.

[gord]

gifEn61dZBc


Some people have a bit of magic in them. Some don't.

You have to earn that magic, often thru suffering and toil and effort. It's not given to you at birth.

When I view the world today, I don't see it as black vs white, left vs right, straight vs gay, etc. I see it as people who are willing to earn their bit of magic and those that aren't.

Earning your magic involves facing controversy nobly and courageously and conquering it.

Those that can't face controversy nobly and courageously are manufacturing phony controversy and blaming it on those that have faced and conquered theirs...making villains out of heroes and heroes out of villains.

You can't earn your magic in a "safe space". It may be cozy there but you make an enormous sacrifice by staying. You sacrifice your magic. Those that sacrifice their magic will always resent those that don't. And then they will try to destroy them. They have to destroy them, because to view them is to be constantly reminded of their weakness.

Those that forsake their magic can not or will not become conquerors, so they forge their identities by becoming victims. The only way to even the playing field for a coward is to destroy the field altogether and create an entirely different game. They can't cop to their hatred and envy, so they instead package it all in phony notions of love and compassion.

This wonderful and brilliant poem by Charles Bukowski sums all this up perfectly. It's not even 2 mins long. His poetry is spare and direct and honest. Totally without pretension. Enjoy.

This thread inspired by Constance and Brian Schaefer.

Charles Bukowski. Great stuff.


The Genius of the Crowd -- Charles Bukowski

There is enough treachery, hatred violence absurdity in the average
Human being to supply any given army on any given day

And the best at murder are those who preach against it
And the best at hate are those who preach love
And the best at war finally are those who preach peace

Those who preach god, need god
Those who preach peace do not have peace
Those who preach peace do not have love

Beware the preachers
Beware the knowers
Beware those who are always reading books
Beware those who either detest poverty
Or are proud of it
Beware those quick to praise
For they need praise in return
Beware those who are quick to censor
They are afraid of what they do not know
Beware those who seek constant crowds for
They are nothing alone
Beware the average man the average woman
Beware their love, their love is average
Seeks average

But there is genius in their hatred
There is enough genius in their hatred to kill you
To kill anybody
Not wanting solitude
Not understanding solitude
They will attempt to destroy anything
That differs from their own
Not being able to create art
They will not understand art
They will consider their failure as creators
Only as a failure of the world
Not being able to love fully
They will believe your love incomplete
And then they will hate you
And their hatred will be perfect

Like a shining diamond
Like a knife
Like a mountain
Like a tiger
Like hemlock

Their finest art

[Bill Ryan]

Many may have seen this classic short video, but it's still instructive. :)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbaemWIljeQ

[Dorjezigzag]

A crowd can build up a great positive energy but can also be an extremely destructive force.

Ml22txWypJE

Douglas Murray's latest book, 'The madness of crowds', particularly relates to that.

14BnMtCDcRY

[Sophocles]

This belongs here I think.

Gustav Le Bon, Crowds:


Gustave Le Bon on The Nature of Crowds

«It is crowds rather than isolated individuals that may be induced to run the risk of death to secure the triumph of a creed or an idea, that may be fired with enthusiasm for glory and honour… Such heroism is without doubt somewhat unconscious, but it is of such heroism that history is made.» -Gustav Le Bon-

What is a crowd?

A group of individuals united by a common idea, belief, or ideology.

Unlike philosophers, crowds accept ideas superficially and utilize them as fuel for revolutionary action.

The Individual in the Crowd

«He is no longer himself, but has become an automaton who has ceased to be guided by his will.»

As a part of a crowd, an individual becomes a pawn who sacrifices his personal goals for those of the crowd.

«In a crowd every sentiment and act is contagious, and contagious to such a degree that an individual readily sacrifices his personal interest to the collective interest.»

A crowd forms when an influential idea unites a number of individuals and propels them to act toward a common goal.

«Ideas being only accessible to crowds after having assumed a very simple shape must often undergo the most thoroughgoing transformations to become popular. It is especially when we are dealing with somewhat lofty philosophical or scientific ideas that we see how far-reaching are the modifications they require in order to lower them to the level of the intelligence of crowds… However great or true an idea may have been to begin with, it is deprived of almost all that which constituted its elevation and its greatness by the mere fact that it has come within the intellectual range of crowds and exerts an influence upon them.» (Le Bon)

«How numerous are the crowds that have heroically faced death for beliefs, ideas, and phrases that they scarcely understood!» (Le Bon)

Mass Control and Simplified Ideas

«By many they are considered as natural forces, as supernatural powers. They evoke grandiose and vague images in men’s minds, but this very vagueness that wraps them in obscurity augments their mysterious power. They are the mysterious divinities hidden behind the tabernacle, which the devout only approach in fear and trembling.» (Le Bon)

The Religious Sentiment of Crowds

«A person is not religious solely when he worships a divinity, but when he puts all the resources of his mind, the complete submission of his will, and the whole-souled ardour of fanaticism at the service of a cause or an individual who becomes the goal and guide of his thoughts and actions.» (Le Bon)

Atheism

«Were it possible to induce the masses to adopt atheism, disbelief would exhibit all the intolerant ardour of a religious sentiment, and in its exterior forms would soon become a cult.» (Le Bon)

Why are crowds immoral?

«…our savage, destructive instincts are the inheritance left dormant in all of us from the primitive ages. In the life of the isolated individual it would be dangerous for him to gratify these instincts, while his absorption in an irresponsible crowd, in which consequence he is assured of imputiny, gives him liberty to follow them.» (Le Bon)

«…if people crowd together and form a mob, then the dynamisms of the collective man are let loose – beasts or demons that lie dormant in every person until he is part of a mob. Man in the mass sinks unconsciously to an inferior moral and intellectual level, to that level which is always there, below the threshold of consciousness, ready to break forth as soon as it is activated by the formation of a mass.» (Carl Gustav Jung)

«In crowds the foolish, ignorant, and envious persons are freed from the sense of their insignificance and powerlessness, and are possessed instead by the notion of brutal and temporary but immense strength.» (Le Bon)

bCAhKGhYzh0

[Harmony]

I totally agree with this sentiment sometimes..... but, groups are necessary to make changes, especially against bully mentalities. What comes to mind is change for the ability for womans voting, workplace safety, fair wages or environmental issues, there would be a big list of course. IMHO, there would be alot of honourable folk that we wouldn't want to throw in the same basket. I realise that's not the true meaning of the post. But, it would be possible for people trying to make changes for good reasons could likely get disheartenned and discouaged or plain "pissed off".

I love your posts Mike, and I would put you in the honourable basket 😛

[Constance]

:bump: :bump: :bump:

[rgray222]

I totally agree with this sentiment sometimes..... but, groups are necessary to make changes,

I agree with that sentiment wholeheartedly but I think the problem begins when the group or crowd becomes a mob. The ability to critically think, reason, and debate is lost. They just chant the chant caught up in the emotion of the mob. They unconsciously have sunk below the threshold of consciousness. This is clearly where the USA is at the present moment. Dissenting language and opposing viewpoints are eliminated before they can reach the surface.



…if people crowd together and form a mob, then the dynamisms of the collective man are let loose – beasts or demons that lie dormant in every person until he is part of a mob. Man in the mass sinks unconsciously to an inferior moral and intellectual level, to that level which is always there, below the threshold of consciousness, ready to break forth as soon as it is activated by the formation of a mass.» (Carl Gustav Jung)

[Harmony]

I totally agree with this sentiment sometimes..... but, groups are necessary to make changes,

I agree with that sentiment wholeheartedly but I think the problem begins when the group or crowd becomes a mob. The ability to critically think, reason, and debate is lost. They just chant the chant caught up in the emotion of the mob. They unconsciously have sunk below the threshold of consciousness. This is clearly where the USA is at the present moment. Dissenting language and opposing viewpoints are eliminated before they can reach the surface.




…if people crowd together and form a mob, then the dynamisms of the collective man are let loose – beasts or demons that lie dormant in every person until he is part of a mob. Man in the mass sinks unconsciously to an inferior moral and intellectual level, to that level which is always there, below the threshold of consciousness, ready to break forth as soon as it is activated by the formation of a mass.» (Carl Gustav Jung)



Yes, that is so very true. It is likely why some things we are seeing happening are easy to orchestrate.

I think what Mike was bringing attention to, was sometimes people feel resentment against others that they view as having more than them. They may not realise some people have worked extra hard for making their lives better, it didn't magically appear because they were lucky. The resenters may then feel hate and self righteousness and want to destroy the ones that have more. The group conformity creates a sort of false consensus. Now Mike could say that in one sentence a million times better than me.

I was bringing attention to sometimes people may have less and know that the cause is because the "playing field" is not level. They may be upset and feel very disempowered and find only in a group would be able to make any difference in changes that need to be made. Some group action can be necessary. Some fine people have led them.

Groups are a very interesting dynamic. So many systems use 'groups' It could be anything from a friendly craft group to a political group, an racial group, it's possible to group just about anything.

What might be important to look at is:

What is the group for
What is their purpose
Is their agenda positive, inclusive of the effect on the whole
Is it exclusive and without care how it will affect others outside the group
How groups start out with good motivations and then become infiltrated and rerouted

But that might be outside the original direction Mike's post was meant to bring attention to and I appologise if I may have taken it off course😊.