Author of quotes: Dario Salas Sommer. Page 1

The most striking fact observed in the psychology of a crowd is this: whatever the individuals who compose it, whatever their way of life, their occupations, their character or mind, their mere transformation into a crowd is enough for them to develop something like a collective soul that makes them feel, think and act completely differently than each of these people individually would think, act and feel.

Society, instead of recognizing the danger of such a phenomenon, encourages it, since it is interested in increasing the number of obedient consumers feeding the system, and people do not understand what kind of retribution awaits them: their individuality will remain underdeveloped or will die altogether.

We are so dependent on the opinions of others that we allow the crowd to be the judge and arbiter of our behavior; we sacrifice anything to be considered “the same as everyone else.” We strive for universal recognition as a reward, we are afraid to be different from others, because this causes a reaction from society: distrust, rejection, suspicion. As a result, we inevitably become part of the homogeneous mass, and this gives us self-confidence and a feeling of acceptance and love, but at the same time we are oppressed by a feeling of loneliness, internal anxiety and lack of personal identity.

Truth never belongs to the majority.

The mass is the average person. Strictly speaking, a mass can be defined as a psychological phenomenon, and one should not expect that individuals will appear in a cluster. The masses are those who, for some reason, do not evaluate themselves as either good or bad, but feel the same as everyone else. At the same time, no one is upset about this, but on the contrary, people are pleased to feel that they are indistinguishable.

The crowd is a mindless monster, devoid of reason and will, which devours everything in its path. And we are forced to obey this faceless crowd, because the principle “the majority orders” applies.

Morality is neither an innate ability of a person, nor his intentional volitional acquisition, having turned, unfortunately, into an external gloss applied by civilization, the rules of which change depending on the interests of society of each era.

Society is well aware of this problem and therefore punishes in every possible way for immoral or antisocial behavior. Rejection by society and, in extreme cases, imprisonment could have long ago discouraged people from breaking the law, but in practice this does not happen, since people adhere to morality not thanks to Nature, but because of ethical norms, which are only a social inoculation for them, and not part of their inner essence. Moreover, these norms of behavior are nothing more than rules that are considered accepted in a certain society and vary greatly depending on place or constantly change over time.

But to learn to appreciate light, you must first understand darkness and ignorance and the harm they cause. Therefore, first I will talk about the reasons that limit people or prevent them from behaving in accordance with the highest ethical standards.

Although society constantly promotes morality, few people accept it deeply, meaningfully and without coercion. Most people treat morality as a burden or an onerous duty, which they are forced to take into account, but to which they do not pay much attention, so as not to give up their favorite entertainment.

Although it is true that everyone strives for good, vice and perversity are much more common than we would like, because man in the ordinary state is not an ethical being, since he usually seeks the path of least resistance. Unfortunately, most people are more comfortable “doing to others as they would not want to be done to them.” Often the temptation to quickly and easily achieve what you want takes precedence over prudence and correct behavior.

What makes people do unethical or immoral things? They are always the result of a mistaken search for happiness, that is, they indicate a failed attempt to achieve it, since, as Aristotle believed, virtue is not only the path to happiness, but also an important part of happiness itself. Unfortunately, people confuse the highest good with transitory and apparent good, identifying it with pleasure, while pain seems to them to be evil.

Society demands that all people comply with accepted norms, but these are constantly violated by actions or inactions. When this happens, be it minor infractions or the most serious crimes, severely punished by justice, every possible attempt is made to justify what was done.

Human abilities are overrated and it is believed that the mere presence of a brain allows one to achieve knowledge and wisdom. This ignores the fact that the most important qualities that a person can develop are still in a latent state, awaiting the possibility of full realization and achievement of human perfection, erasing traces of his animal origin from the psyche.