Deep Insights And Psychology of the Crowds

Deep Insights And Psychology of the Crowds

Deep Insights Into The Inner Mechanisms of the Mind 101

Updated March 2023

To apprehend the ways of the masses, one must primarily apprehend one’s own ways. Mayhap by this juncture, thou hast garnered some comprehension of what impels thee, how thou dost react amidst a throng, and how thou dost react when the markets experience a strenuous downturn. If thou hast not recorded thy trades in a journal, find a peaceful place and recollect how thou hast responded every time the markets endured a robust downturn, and pen these thoughts on parchment. Likewise, one must carry out the same undertaking to examine how one hast reacted whilst the crowd was in a state of bliss.

Though one may find oneself taken aback by the compendium of volumes presented herein or the sequence in which they are presented, one should be cognizant that we have dedicated almost a quarter of a century to this field of inquiry, and there are hidden meanings within all the tomes mentioned. Read them leisurely and endeavour to seize the crux of the matter. The purpose is not to hasten through the book but to apprehend the information and then endeavour to apply it in actuality.

 

Aesops Fables21348

Aesop’s Fables or Aesopica refers to a collection of fables credited to Aesop (620-560 BC), a slave and storyteller who lived in Ancient Greece. Aesop’s Fables have become a blanket term for collections of brief fables, usually involving anthropomorphic animals.

Many stories included in Aesop’s Fables, such as The Fox and the Grapes (from which the idiom “sour grapes” was derived), The Tortoise and the Hare, The North Wind and the Sun and The Boy Who Cried Wolf, are well-known throughout the world. Goodreads

Lucy Cheke, a PhD student at the University of Cambridge’s Department of Experimental Psychology, expanded Aesop’s fable into three tasks of varying complexity and compared the performance of Eurasian Jays with local school children.

Children Grasp New Concepts Rapidly

The task that set the children apart from the Jays involved a counter-intuitive mechanism as it was hidden under an opaque surface. Neither the birds nor the children could learn how the mechanism worked, but the children could learn how to get the reward, whereas the birds were not.

The study results illustrate that children learn about cause and effect in the physical world in a different way to birds. While the Jays appear to take account of the mechanism involved in the task, the children are more driven by superficial cause-effect relationships.

Lucy Cheke said, ”This makes sense because it is children’s job to learn about new cause-and-effect relationships without being limited by ideas of what is or is not possible. The children were able to learn what to do to get the reward, even if the chain of events was apparently impossible. Essentially, they could ignore the fact that it shouldn’t be happening to concentrate on the fact that it was happening.  The birds, however, found it much harder to learn what was happening because they were put off by the fact that it shouldn’t be happening.”

The tasks were a variation of Aesop’s fable that consisted of using a tube of water containing an out-of-reach prize. The subjects were required to manipulate objects to displace the water so that the award could be reached. Continue reading

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Aesops Fables

Lord of the fliesDeep Insights And Psychology

Considered one of the most influential works in the field of social psychology, The Crowd is an in-depth analysis of mass behaviour. This book was instrumental in creating the field of social psychology, influencing scholars like Freud, Hitler, and Mussolini, who may have used its observations as a guide to stirring up popular passions. The author suggests that the masses have never sought truth but instead seek illusions, which can easily make them subservient to their masters, and anyone who tries to destroy these illusions will become their victim.

While focusing on crowd psychology, the book also instructs on the effects of generally accepted beliefs of a nation’s citizenry on the processes of history. The volume covers topics such as the crowd’s general characteristics and mental unity, their sentiments and morality, ideas, reasoning power, imagination, opinions, and beliefs. It also discusses the means used by leaders to persuade the crowd and classification of crowds, including criminal and electrical assemblages, criminal juries, and parliamentary assemblies. goodreads

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The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind by Gustave Le BonDeep Insights into the crowd

One of the most influential works of social psychology in history, The Crowd was highly instrumental in creating this field of study by analyzing, in detail, mass behaviour. The book had a profound impact not only on Freud but also on such twentieth-century masters of crowd control as Hitler and Mussolini — both of whom may have used its observations as a guide to stirring up popular passions. In the author’s words, “The masses have never thirsted after the truth.

Whoever can supply them with illusions is easily their master; whoever attempts to destroy their illusions is always their victim.”
Although the volume focuses on crowd psychology, it is also brilliantly instructive on the effects of the generally accepted beliefs of a nation’s citizenry on the processes of history.

Among the topics covered here are general characteristics and mental unity of the crowd; the crowd’s sentiments and morality; its ideas, reasoning power, and imagination; opinions and beliefs of crowds and the means used by leaders to persuade; classification of crowds, including criminal and electrical assemblages, as well as the functioning of criminal juries and parliamentary assemblies.


A must-read volume for students of history, sociology, law, and psychology, The Crowd will also be invaluable to politicians, statesmen, investors, and marketing managers. “Any study of crowd behavior, popular psychology, fascism, etc. would do well to begin with Le Bon’s work.” — Anson Rabinbach, Professor of History, Princeton University.
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Instincts of the Herd in Peace and War by W. Trotter19434589

This culturally important work has been carefully reproduced from the original artefact, striving to maintain its authenticity as much as possible. The work contains original copyright references, library stamps, and other notations. As a historical artefact, it may have missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, or errant marks.

In the United States of America and possibly other countries, this work is in the public domain, allowing for free copying and distribution without restriction. Scholars believe that this work is significant enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made available to the public, despite any imperfections it may contain.

We are dedicated to the preservation of this knowledge and grateful for your support in this ongoing effort. Thank you for being a crucial part of this process and helping to keep this valuable information alive and relevant. Good reads

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Essays of Michel de Montaigne 44280083. sx318

Michel de Montaigne wrote a collection of essays in Middle French, originally published in France between 1570 and 1592. The essays aim to record Montaigne’s character and humour, covering a wide range of topics. His writing style varies from a stream-of-thought approach to a more structured, didactic approach. Montaigne often supports his arguments with quotations from ancient texts in Greek, Latin, and Italian, including works by Lucretius and Plutarch.

His essays were a notable contribution to writing form and scepticism. Montaigne’s exploratory journeys sought to bring a sceptical approach to the subjects he discussed. The word “essais” in the title means “attempts” or “tests,” reflecting the exploratory nature of his work.  Goodreads

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Manufacturing Consent  12617. sy475

In this pathbreaking work, Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky show that, contrary to the usual image of the news media as cantankerous, obstinate, and ubiquitous in their search for truth and defence of justice, in their actual practice they defend the economic, social, and political agendas of the privileged groups that dominate domestic society, the state, and the global order.

Based on a series of case studies—including the media’s dichotomous treatment of “worthy” versus “unworthy” victims, “legitimizing” and “meaningless” Third World elections, and devastating critiques of media coverage of the U.S. wars against Indochina—Herman and Chomsky draw on decades of criticism and research to propose a Propaganda Model to explain the media’s behaviour and performance. Their new introduction updates the Propaganda Model and the earlier case studies and discusses several other applications.

These include the manner in which the media covered the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement and subsequent Mexican financial meltdown of 1994-1995, the media’s handling of the protests against the World Trade Organization, World Bank, and International Monetary Fund in 1999 and 2000, and the media’s treatment of the chemical industry and its regulation. What emerges from this work is a robust assessment of how propagandistic the U.S. mass media are, how they systematically fail to live up to their self-image as providers of the kind of information that people need to make sense of the world, and how we can understand their function in a radically new way. Goodreads

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Extra notes on the above topic by Noam Chomsky and Edward S Herman

Secondary link With Additional notes

Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds by Mackay

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First published in 1841, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds is often cited as the best book ever written about market psychology. This Harriman House edition includes Charles Mackay’s account of the three infamous financial manias – John Law’s Mississipi Scheme, the South Sea Bubble, and Tulipomania.

Between the three of them, these historic episodes confirm that greed and fear have always been the driving forces of financial markets, and, furthermore, that being sensible and clever is no defence against the mesmeric allure of a popular craze with the wind behind it.

In writing the history of the great financial manias, Charles Mackay proved himself a master chronicler of social as well as financial history.

Blessed with a cast of characters that covered all the vices, gifted a passage of events which was inevitably heading for disaster, and with the benefit of hindsight, he produced a record that is at once a riveting thriller and absorbing historical document. A century and a half later, it is as vibrant and lurid as the day it was written.

For modern-day investors, still reeling from the dotcom crash, the moral of the popular manias scarcely needs spelling out. When the next stock market bubble comes along, as it indeed will, you are advised to recall the plight of some of the unfortunate on these pages, and avoid getting dragged under the wheels of the careering bandwagon yourself. Goodreads

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Reminiscences of a Stock Operator 100779

First published in 1923, “Reminiscences of a Stock Operator” is the most widely read, highly recommended investment book ever. Generations of readers have found that it has more to teach them about markets and people than years of experience. This is a timeless tale that will enrich your life–and your portfolio.

“Although Reminiscences…was first published some seventy years ago, its take on crowd psychology and market timing is as timely as last summer’s frenzy on the foreign exchange markets.”
Worth magazine

“The most entertaining book written on investing is Reminiscences of a Stock Operator, by Edwin Lefèvre, first published in 1923.”
The Seattle Times

“After twenty years and many re-reads, Reminiscences is still one of my all-time favourites.”
Kenneth L. FisherForbes

“A must-read classic for all investors, whether brand-new or experienced.”
William O’Neil, founder and Chairman, Investor’s Business Dail

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Suggested Videos

One can watch these videos in addition to reading the above books. In general, one will gain more if one does both.

Plato’s allegory of the cave

 

Manufacturing consent: Noam Chomsky

The original video has been pulled and made private.  Click on the second link for a similar version.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuwmWnphqII.

Lord of the flies

 

The nature of the crowd Gustave le Bon

A century of enslavement

 

Shaping public opinion

Mass Hysteria throughout history

 

 

The Federal Reserve System – Slavery at its best (1/4)

 

How the News lies

 

Essential Hayek: Economic Booms and Busts

 

The psychology of Self Deception

 

This is How Easy It Is to Lie With Statistics

How social media destroys your life