Mass
Psychology Part I
This
is a very fascinating field for if you understand it you can
truly lead a very fruitful and full life. To truly
understand mass psychology one must fully understand
oneself; in other words, one must be willing to strip
oneself to the bare bones and in doing so examine all ones
weakness and strengths with equal intensity. One cannot
sugar coat ones weakness and then apply thick layers of
honey to one's strength. If anything one should be more
willing to downplay one's strength and emphasize one's
weakness for it’s the areas that we are weak in that hold us
back and not the areas that we are strong in. School
and society teach us a total bunch of nonsense when they
state that one should hide ones weakness and manifest ones
strength; its for this reason the world in general has not
learnt anything and its for this reason that we are still
barbarians. The only thing that has changed is the clothes,
we wear to disguise our primitiveness, other than that the
cave man mentality still dominates.
I have
read a lot of good books over the years but as far as I can
remember at least going back 12-15 years, or more I have
never been so fascinated by a book where I wanted to savour
each and every page of it. I would find interesting tit bits
here and there or several paragraphs or even several pages
that reached out and compelled me to go through slowly for
fear of missing something valuable but never the entire
book. The last time I read a book to its entirety savouring
each and every page was probably in my 20’s. I stopped doing
this is because I could no longer find any book that was
compelling enough to read each and every single page until I
stumbled on a very old book by chance very recently.
I was in
small town in Connecticut (I usually take random trips to
observe individuals as it helps in assessing what the
markets are doing and where they might go) and stumbled upon
this small used book store. I almost feel guilty for having
paid the paltry sum of 1.50 for such a truly insightful book
that I went back to this shop and bought several other books
which I will almost definitely speed read in order to feel
that at least I partially paid fair price for this book.
This book was written in the 1500’s yet the man that wrote
this book, in my opinion is brilliant to say the least; he
was born several hundred years before his time and almost
all his insights are applicable today. Over the course of
the next few weeks we will list excerpts from this book, and
then we will reveal the name and the author of this book. I
know many of you will want the info immediately but this way
you get to understand and appreciate this book for the true
value it carries and not treat it as just another book. I
would personally rate this as one of thee greatest books I
have yet read and one of the best in dealing with the
concept of mass psychology. This gentleman probably
deserves the title of being the father or better yet the
Grand father of mass psychology. As they say if one cannot
understand oneself then how can one ever hope to understand
another?
A young
man ought to break the rules in order to rouse his vigour
and keep it from rusting. There is no course of life so
stupid and weak as that governed by inalterable rule and
discipline. If he takes my advice he will occasionally kick
over the traces. Otherwise, the slightest debauch will put
him flat on his back and make him a social nuisance. The
nastiest quality in a decent man is fastidiousness and a
stubborn devotion to the eccentric behaviour and all
behaviour is eccentric if its not pliable and supple.
Our young
man should be able to do everything but love to do nothing
but the good. Let him laugh, play and wench with the prince.
I would wish that even in debauchery he outdid his
companions, so when he refused to indulge in vice it was not
because he lacked the knowledge or power but simply the
will. A man should not be ashamed not to dare or to be able
to do what he sees his companions doing. Such a one should
stick by the kitchen fire.
When
Socrates was asked: what is your country? He did not
answer: “Athens”, but “the World”. His fuller and wider
imagination embraced the universe for his city. He extended
his knowledge to society and his friendship to all mankind
unlike ourselves who look no farther then end of our
nose. The vast world which some men now think is but one
among many of its kind is the mirror in which we must look
in order to know ourselves in our true scale. And this
world in short is the book my young scholar must study.
Pythagoras used to say life resembles the Olympic Games: a
few men strain their muscles to carry of a prize; others
bring trinkets to sell to the crowd for a profit; and some
there are (and not the worst) who seek no further advantage
then to look at the show and see how everything is done.
They are spectators of other men’s lives in order to better
judge and manage their own.
These
are my lessons. The man who applies them will profit more
than the man who merely knows them. When you see such a man,
you will hear him; when you hear him, you see him. God
forbid says someone in Plato, “that philosophy should mean
learning a pack of facts and discouraging on the arts”.
Hegesias once begged Diogenes to read a certain book. “You
are jesting”, Diogenes replied, “surely you prefer real to
painted figs, why then don’t you choose living lessons
rather then written ones?”
It may
happen that our pupil will prove to be a contrary fellow. He
may prefer to hear a silly fable rather then a wise
discourse or the true story of a notable voyage. While his
playmates fire to the beat of a martial drum, he may respond
to the tub-thumpings of a circus clown. Perhaps he will find
it less delightful to return dusty and victorious from a
battlefield then stroll home after wining a match of
tennis. In that case, I see only one remedy. Even though
he be the son of a duke, either his teacher should strangle
him at an early hour or if that can’t be done without
witness, he should be apprenticed in some nice town to a
pastry cook.
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Mass Psychology Introduction
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