The Crowd: Study of the popular mind

Le Bon's The Crowd is best used as a tool for meditating on the nature of group psychology and the decadence of nations. As a 21st century observer, many of Le Bon's observations resonated with me. However, what Le Bon repeatedly calls facts in this book, we would today likely call assertions; what we would call facts are noticeably lacking. The only authority we are supplied with are the author's reputation and choice anecdotes he has selected. As a result, The Crowd's value as a reference text is diminished. It does not, however, disprove any of his arguments; indeed, I would be very interested to see to what extent his theories are supported by modern experimentation.

Le Bon argues that when individuals are brought together into a crowd, their contributions to the rational faculties of the collective are not additive but rather subtractive. The crowd is no longer guided by logic and self-interest; instead it craves a leader, becoming extremely vulnerable to suggestion. The crowd will follow a man of sufficient prestige with an easily understood message: one that is presented with vivid imagery, not rational argumentation, and one that plays to the foundational values of the group in question, even if these values are no longer practiced. By this means the individuals of a group can often be led against their own best interest.

The Crowd is perhaps a bit lengthy and repetitive at first, but I found the second half to be especially interesting. It is at this point that Le Bon examines the different kinds of crowds individually, such as juries, electors, and parliaments. In spite of the lack of concrete evidence, it may nonetheless offer some effective practical advice when dealing with these and other groups. If nothing else, some of the anecdotes related are quite humorous.

3/5