Collective Behavior or Collective Lunacy?

                                 It is the ability to remain conscious  that counts in collective  behaviors, and  this is  a state  very difficult to maintain  in  the  midst  of the  crowd. How many  people can remain conscious  enough  to have  time to assess  whether  a speech deserves  ovation or not , and  clap  or refrain  from  clapping  hands  along  with others   in the  audience , out  of emotion? Even  if  one  is inwardly  convinced  that  a bad  speech has been  delivered , there  are other  elements  that must  be taken  into  consideration. One is the force of custom and conviction. Custom has laid it down that the audience should clap hands at the conclusion of a speech whether good or bad. Another is the drive to conform. Any  member  of the audience  is wont  to feel  awkward if he does  not  do  what  everybody  does, because  of fear  that others  would regard him  as a particular  individual.

                  If man claims that he is gregarious, animals also are entitled to the same claim. Man’s claim that he is the only creature that can reason is based on the fact that he cannot make sense out of what the animals do. This is indeed a poor criterion of judgment. What, for instance, do animals think of men? Or do we not make any impression on them? The school  , public assemblies, the church and the army  are centers of collective  behavior, where the degree  of discipline  vary  in each case  according to  age of the  individuals and degree of  informality of the groups. Society is not a bland collectivity but an abstract collectivity.