THE MOB-MIND

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2257, 17 September 1914, Page 7

THE MOB-MIND

IRRESISTIBLE POWER OF SUGGESTION. It is proverbially easy to sliout with tho largest crowd, especially when its name is Public Opinion, says James Douglas in the "Daily Mail," but in one's detached and isolated moods a dim doubt about Public Opinion creops into one's mind. What is Public Opinion but an exceedingly large mob ? If Pub. lie Opinion bo a mob, why should wo bow to it so slavishly? Is it not our duty to break away from the mob and in somo place apart strive to come to conclusions without being influenced by the Mob-Mind P The man who is carried off his feet by tho Mob-Mind is not wholly responsible for his actions. He loses his own separate individuality for tho moment, and becomes an irresponsible part of an irresponsible monster, whose passions represent its units at their worst and not at their best. Each unit is not conscious of its acts. It is a drop of water in a stormy sea. The sea, as a whole, is drivon forward by blind forces, and the human drops of which it is composed have 110 conscience ajid hardly any volition. The mass moves, and its ingredients arq swept forward without interrogating themselves about the moral quality of their conduct. Many years ago I happened to stumble into an Irish mob which was busy stoning tho police. I did not know what were the causes or merits of the riot. I • simply saw men picking up stones and throwing them at tho police. Quite suddenly I caught tho contagion of the mob. I saw red, and. before I knew what I was doing I found myself stoopjng down, picking up a stone, and hurlingvit violently into the air. The physical action startled me and brought me to my senses. I saw myself as a unit in a mob and ,1 blushed for my lack of self-control. At that very moment the police charged and the mob took to its heels. Once more I lost my sense of individuality. 'I ran with tli? piob and presently found myself panting vehemently, and wondering what had happened. At that time I was a boy, but my experience taught me that it is difficult to retain/self-control in the midst of . a mob. The Mob-Mind is almost irresistible ,in its. power of contagion. . A few days ago I found myself in a very hysterical mob which was hooting with great vigour. Before I could interrogate myself I positively heard myself hooting with the mob. As'soon as I heard my own voice I silenced it, and I upbraided myself for surrendering ,to tho Mob-Mind. I then looked round me calmly and surveyed tho mob with its thousand throats howling furiously. I saw near me several intelligent persons who had not yet recovered their self-mastery. They did not look pretty, and as I noted their frenzied features I reflected that a moment before I had presented- the same absurd appearance, I. watched them coining to their senses, arid I was gratified to; perceive their gradual transition from hysteria to shamefaced embarrassment, followed by a valiant attempt to pretend that they had not taken part in the emotional orgy, that was slowly subsiding like tha echoes of a thunderclap in the mountains. - Tho result of my meditations on this particular experience of the Mob-Mind was tho conclusion that education, culture, and knowledge of psychology aro efficient anti-toxins against the brain-storms and nervo-storniß produced by emotionalised masses of men. •It is not enough to be a philosopher. In' fact, a mob of philosophers would probably be more dangerous than a mob of illiterates. The general assumption that education makes for sta-, bility in the multitude is by no means susceptible of proof. It is quite possible that education has made great masses of humanity more inflammable by extending the area exposed to excitement. _ Public opinion is to some extent a gigantic surface of bare nerves over which the newspapers can rain sensations. The marvellous swiftness of the impact of news upon the tract of nerves has converted Public Opinion into a mob on .'a vast scale—a mob made up of millions instead. of thousands. It may be said tiiat I' am peculiarly excitable and exceptionally hysterical, and I am humble enough to believe that this charge is. true; but when I compare notes with friends who in my belief are far more stolid, far more im- . passivle, and far moro cynfcal, I find to my amazement that they too aro subject to these inexplicable attacks of hysteria when brought .into contact with the Mob-Mind. 'I was astonished ,to discover that one of the most imperturbable men of my acquaintance had also succumbed to the hypnotic influence 'of the Mob-Mind on the same occasion. He confessed to me that lie had caught himself hooting with the scum and dregs of the crowd. His confession forced me to think furiously. 1 found no consolation in tho theory that I was an exception. 'Here was,a man whose whole training arms him against the contagion of the MobMind, and yofc he was helpless in the maelstrom. If this be the case in a comparatively trifling. crisis of nerves, it follows that the calmest and sanest minds may lose all sense of proportion,, when th<jy are 6wept away by a st-am-' pede of the greater Mob-Mind which wo call Public Opinion. And I have an uneasy suspicion that, statesmen, whose profession presupposes an ability ,to remain unmoved by the gusts and gales of Public Opinion, are not nearly 'go stolid and so phlegmatic as they are commonly, imagined to he. They aro, in fact, units of the Mob-Mind, and subject to its unreasoning impulses and blind rushes. Doubtless they strive to maintain the judicial illusion, and persuade themselves that they are proof against the overwhelming magnetism of hysterical Public 1 Opinion. But they are men of . like passions with the rest of us," arid if we analyse their utterances we can detect evidences of their emotional instability. In all the great catastrophes and cataclysms of history they are seen ,borne along by the waves of' the MobMind, even while they appear to be swimming against the tide, riding thewhirlwind, and_ directing tho storm. The power'of resisting the insanities of Public Opinion is not often found in even the greatest statesman, for it is a function of the wjll rather than of the intellect, and will-power is rarer than intellectual power. A stupid man may be endowed with stronger will-power than an intellectual giant. Tho strong stupid man may savo the State from the follies of the weak brilliant man. In troublous times it would be well if we could throw out a sea-anohor of obstinate stupidity which would counteract tho violence of the Mob-Mind —a Public Opinion within Public Opinion. which would act as a stabiliser. Just as the geese saved the Capitol, so might a Holy Alliance of Stupidity save society from the madness of the ' Mob-Mind. But stupid men are woefully scarce in an earthquake.