This is the core of this book, and it is also a similar conclusion that I have reached in my long-term thinking and observation. Whether it is family background or projection, tracing back to the source is actually not a personal problem, but a problem of the whole group. The group is unconscious and easy to be shaped.
I'm still thinking about the source of its shaping power. At present, the conclusion is "heredity and environment": part of heredity comes from the culture, philosophy and history of race, and this part continues in individual genes. Many people think that philosophy is useless. In fact, it has a very powerful force, which can deconstruct reality and even shape the behavior of groups to individuals. Part of the environment comes from productivity and economic base, which is delayed, but fundamentally decisive, but its decisiveness needs new ideas and philosophy to lead the shaping. In Marx's view, people who don't conform to the development of the times will eventually be abandoned by the times.
There is an interaction between "genetic self" (reproductive continuity, animality and id) and "conscious self" (thinking, exploration, rationality and self) in individual behavior, and there is also "shaping self" (philosophical thinking, conditional constraints and superego) in individual behavior, that is, top-down shaping from society.
In the part of "Shaping Me", the most direct and important thing is to come from a family (in China, the contradiction between parents' behavior and education, anxiety about class, etc. Almost universal). In this part, the family seems to be a local role, but in fact it is the smallest unit of social role. Secondly, the media is a very important shaping force in the contemporary era. Another way of saying this is the right to speak, which can directly shape people's views and positions on the premise of controlling external information. In addition to these two forces, there are other forces such as culture, law and ethics. But fundamentally speaking, I think philosophy is a guiding force, and in the west, religious belief is one of them.
My research and efforts only consider methods, and various viewpoints, doctrines and theories have no influence on me. I am convinced that this is the only way to discover a few truths.
This is a point that thinkers will consider. All kinds of opinions, dogmas and theories belong to the forming part and the conditional part, so we should consider the problem from reality and not constrain ourselves ideologically first. This is also what elon musk attaches great importance to: the first principle. To explore the truth, we should proceed from rationality and reality. For example, when we speak, we often like to borrow other people's words and quote some concepts from textbooks or books, which is understandable. However, abstract models are often distorted, and various concepts and terms are often confined to a specific language environment, which is not suitable for random reference. So when talking about specific things, I think it is very effective to speak with cases.
Careful observation of historical facts, all observations are confirming one thing to me. Social organizations are complex, just like all living individuals, which makes them suddenly change.
Cells are life. When cells form organisms, they transcend the life of cells themselves. The complex life system presents a kind of emergence. Organisms continue to shape the behavior of cells from top to bottom. The social body is similar, composed of organisms, which goes beyond many laws of organisms, and the social body will also shape the behavior of organisms from top to bottom.
As far as groups are concerned, most of their behaviors, mentally, show a unique inferiority. In other behaviors, it seems that there are mysterious forces around. The ancients would call it fate or providence, while we regard it as the voice of the undead. Although we don't know their essence, we can't ignore their strength. In the deep heart of this nation, sometimes it feels that there is a lasting power dominating them.
"The Analects of Confucius for Politics": "Fifty people know the destiny". This dominant force is the top-down molding. It was born to solve the contradiction of the times, and it has become a new obstacle and contradiction of social development. Is the national will top-down? No, the will of the state is bottom-up, which is a group behavior shaped by individuals, and then individuals are shaped from group behavior.
In all our actions, the unconscious plays a huge role, while the rational does not.
Which is me, the inherited me, the conscious me or the molded me? This proposition is quite difficult and involves the issue of free will. Do people have free will?
Rationality evolved to master the laws of nature in order to survive, and its essence may be born for the continuation of genes. Is this part the unconscious part? Am I actively choosing my thinking?
Reason was born from the "inherited self" and philosophy was born from the "conscious self", but after its birth, it surpassed itself and affected itself in turn.
The change of ideas, concepts and beliefs is an important factor to trigger the civilized revolution. ..... These great events are rare because the thinking structure handed down from generation to generation is stable.
At present, the era we live in is one of the key periods of several transformation processes that human thought needs to go through.
Generations have been shaped before they know it. In the long-term hardships and introspection, I gradually realized the part that I was shaped, and the part that was shaped covered up my due light. When the gap is gradually eliminated, the world we see is becoming more and more different. We need the wisdom of ancient philosophy and the emergence of ideas that conform to the productive forces of the times.
A century ago, all kinds of events were caused by the traditional policies of European countries and the confrontation between kings. The opinions of the masses basically have no effect, or have little effect.
The mass historical view is an important part of Marxist thought. The monarch's behavior seems to be the behavior of elite individuals, but in the whole social system, this behavior is only fundamentally shaped by the group. And this kind of shaping is subject to various constraints under the background of the times.
Now, the masses have formed one different alliance after another. ...
This is a unique situation in Europe and America, and our organization in uniting the masses is more perfect. For example, there is a serious opposition between American social elites and civilians, and social organizations do not represent the interests of the people in most cases. As an observer, the author believes that power itself comes from the masses and will eventually return to them.
The sign of the last stage of western civilization is probably the emergence of large-scale power. This stage may be a period of chaos and anarchy, but it is a stage that all new societies must go through. So can this result be organized?
Is it the emergence of mass power or the irreconcilable class contradictions? We need to rethink the development of social form. Whether this result can be organized, I think China has given a better answer, that is, the mass line.
..... Therefore, no matter how high the tax rate is, the masses will always choose to accept it, because for daily consumer goods, only a little tax is paid every day, and the habits of the group will not be disrupted ... This group will never take action according to the teaching of pure reason.
The classic story of chop and change. In these paragraphs, the author expounds the irrational behavior of groups, which is more in line with some specific behaviors of people. There is also a research direction in economics, that is, "behavioral economics".
Unconsciousness exists not only in the life of organisms, but also in intellectual activities, and plays an overwhelming and important role.
Our conscious motivation is mainly the product of the unconscious deep psychological structure caused by genetic influence.
There are not only the genetic characteristics of survival choice, but also the cultural characteristics of parents and the characteristics influenced by epigenetic factors. Many genes that protect us are encoded as emotions. For example, when we see a snake, we are afraid. Is this a kind of consciousness or unconsciousness?
The innate nature of a race is made up of the unconscious.
Not long ago, there was a game called Ice Age, and the doomsday game was played by us in China as a vegetable growing game. One of the most important characteristics of Chinese civilization is farming civilization, so it is obvious that races are conservative and obedient. In resource-poor areas, island countries like Viking or Great Britain need to forge ahead to obtain more living resources, so adventure and heroism will easily become the mainstream.
Through suggestion and mutual infection, people's thoughts and feelings will develop in the same direction, and this idea of suggestion will be immediately transformed into action. This person is no longer himself, but a doll whose will is controlled by others.
There will always be gaps in people's various needs. As long as we aim at this gap and construct relevant "philosophy", we can control people, but the stronger the deconstruction ability of people, the less easy it is to be controlled. But despite this, people are social animals after all, and they can't escape all kinds of shaping.
..... when they are independent individuals, they are all well-educated and docile citizens, but when they are in this group of national associations, they do not hesitate to implement some very barbaric decisions, and they send some innocent people to the guillotine. ...
This is related to the constraints of the environment. As long as this rule is followed, people will automatically tend to this equilibrium. Therefore, this equilibrium can only be adjusted fundamentally, institutionally and ideologically. This is the content of game theory.
The first witness at the scene can be said to be the victim of hallucination, and his testimony will have a certain influence on other witnesses.
It should be related to the memory mechanism. When people remember, they don't remember all the details, but after the memory is mobilized by emotions, they will have this illusion to complete the memory, which is constantly strengthened in group identity.
The sense of violence in the group will be strengthened because of the disappearance of the sense of group responsibility ... In the group, those incompetent people, fools, people with jealousy and resentment will get rid of that negative feeling, instead of feeling incompetent, and feel a great power, but this power is short-lived and cruel.
Just like our network environment, those who may have emotional defects or cognitive biases find a sense of security and belonging on the internet, but they can't see that they are alienated puppets under the power of this group.
Once an isolated individual becomes a member of a group, his personal intelligence will decline rapidly.
It may be related to mirror neurons, and only the feedback that conforms to the group trend will be enhanced.
They will not submit to the gentle director, but recognize the tyrant who severely oppresses them and crushes them. ..... a hero like Caesar. His strength will stop them, and his strength will attract them. At the same time, his sword made them feel awe.
This kind of power, in layman's terms, is PUA, and there is a psychological disease called Stockholm effect, that is, its emotions and living conditions are mobilized.
I wrote in my previous article:
Why are the rules so powerful? This is determined by the "inherited me". As a "hereditary me", the ultimate problem is survival and reproduction, and obeying the rules is the physiological inheritance of group survival. Man is an animal that can be tamed, and conformity and obedience are the existence portrayed in genes. Under the control of this kind of power, the group will show very strong vitality and combat effectiveness to ensure the continuation of the population. ) Just like locusts are generally green, they will be "zombie" in large-scale groups, and people in groups will have group unconsciousness, which will affect people's decision-making and behavior, such as Germany and Japan during World War II.
Definitions and rules can manipulate people's group unconscious. Why should we emphasize the divine right of monarchy in feudal times? Why should justice and reason be attached to subversion of political power? Because the existence that violates the will of the group will eventually be swallowed up by the group, and the will of the group can indeed be influenced. Pua can be used for individuals, and Pua can also be used for groups. At present, the strongest physical attack is nuclear weapons, and the strongest physical discourse power is nuclear power.
The group in this war is like a hypnotized bird, and the hypnotized person is a hunter!
Although a person with strong deconstruction ability can become a hunter, all forces will interact, and those who use this power will eventually be swallowed up by this power.
Every civilization is actually the product of several basic knowledge concepts, and there are several. These concepts rarely change and innovate.
Because people and society are ultimately bound by natural geographical conditions, this basic idea will maintain its stability until great innovation has taken place in civilization. In recent decades, changes and innovations have been particularly obvious. It can be said that in the evolution of human society thousands of years ago, the basic conditions of human beings have never been so satisfied, even decades ago, with each passing day. Therefore, China's basic ideas among three generations not only maintained a certain continuity, but also produced new ideas.
It's a pity that the angle of innovation flashes like a spark, and the inertia of the group is so strong that only a few people who can jump out of this shape of fate can see the future.
The concept that can be accepted by the group must be simple and clear, so if a concept wants to be popular and easy to understand, it must be profoundly reformed.
The simple reason is that individuals in the group will carry out secondary processing on ideas that conform to their own observations, while reasonable ideas are often complex and dialectical, and their power will be weakened after secondary processing. But after the transformation: the intuitive world outlook-rough methodology, such a simple and clear concept, is highly executable, so it can be accepted by the group.
It is a characteristic of group reasoning to mix things that are different from each other and only have some similarities on the surface, and to generalize specific things at the same time.
Sophistication also relies on the power of words. Without special training and thinking, it is difficult to distinguish logical fallacies. Even very clever people will fall into the "field" arranged by others under the hint of environment and psychology, thus producing wrong reasoning.
By reading some of the speakers' speeches, we will be surprised to find out how many weaknesses these speeches have, but such speeches can deeply affect the audience ... These speeches are used to convince groups, not for scientists and philosophers! ..... If we compare 20 well-thought-out arguments, their influence on the group is not as good as a few simple and convincing words.
They will accept and generally agree because they feel that they cannot form other and unique views through their own reasoning.
That's the point. Most people's nervous system can't handle complex information (either lack of talent or long-term information overload). Judging from these complicated information, they are in a long-term contradiction and dilemma. When someone is willing to provide them with some intuitive answers to these contradictions and reduce the thinking load of the group, they will certainly flock to them.
Groups, due to the lack of reasoning ability, their imagination has become strong and very active, even extremely sensitive.
This is related to selective inheritance. Reasoning should be regarded as depth-first search, while imagination is breadth-first search. In a changeable and complicated environment, imagination occupies a powerful position and can help us cope with many sudden changes.
For the group who can only think in images, the importance of images can be imagined, and they can only be moved by images.
In consumer psychology, this is the brand effect. In the media, we can see that people are more important than real people. Literary and dramatic films are more attractive and abstract than documentaries.
What can affect people's imagination is the way events happen and attract people's attention, not just the truth itself. It can also be said that only when these events are concentrated to a certain extent will a jaw-dropping and breathtaking image be formed. If you want to master the art of ruling the people, you must first master the art of methods that affect people's imagination. This is the correct and effective method.
Media theory.
In the conflict between emotion and reason, emotion has never failed.
This is related to the development of the prefrontal cortex.
Race, tradition, time, political and social system, education
This part of thinking has been mentioned in the preface, that is, the part of cultural "inheritance", but I think these are appearances, which are constrained and shaped in specific environmental resources.
..... On the contrary, at the top of the social stratum, a frivolous bourgeoisie has been cultivated. These people are suspicious, but easy to trust others. Their trust in the country is almost superstitious, just like heaven, but they don't forget to show hostility to it on a regular basis. They are good at blaming their mistakes on the government. Without the intervention of the authorities, they are doomed to accomplish nothing.
Success depends on experience, judgment and pioneering spirit, but these necessary factors cannot be taught in textbooks.
French scholar Turner:
The formation of ideas is natural, and it is formed in its normal environment. To promote the growth of young people's thoughts, it is necessary for young people to acquire sensory knowledge from farms, factories, mines, courts, hospitals and construction sites. They must personally touch all kinds of tools, materials and operations, and they must also be with workers and laborers in person, whether they do well or badly, making money or losing money. Only in this way can they gain some understanding through their eyes, nose and hands, although these understandings are insignificant. In this process, learners will unconsciously ponder over these details, and gradually have some understanding in their hearts. As time goes by, sooner or later, they will produce some tips, start to try new combinations, or create inventions and improvements. But for young people in France, it is a pity that when they are most suitable for learning, they are deprived of this way of learning, so that they cannot get in touch with these essential factors.
Similar to the idea of Japanese kazuo inamori, the mind can get more things on the spot.
The school did not give them the equipment, will and quality they needed to survive. Not only did it not be given to them, but it also destroyed their quality. Because of this, young people will only suffer a series of setbacks when they enter the society, which is very painful. The wounds caused by such setbacks will not heal even after a long time, and even lose the ability to live.
One generation is like a failed experimenter, growing up in this thoughtless trauma and passing it on to the next generation.
Images, words and slogans, hallucinations, experiences, reasons
In the preface, my answer is similar to the author's.
The power of names is very powerful. If you can choose, it is enough to turn some of the most hateful things into something acceptable to the people.
Words are produced in a specific cultural environment and have obvious racial characteristics and emotional colors, so the proper use of words has great ability to arouse emotions.
In fact, these visions have supported our ancestors for many centuries.
After reading this, I can't help feeling a little sad. Our living support is often an illusion of being shaped, rather than really experiencing it with our heart. We are controlled by hallucinations, just like puppets.
This leader is like a sheep, and others are like lambs. Without sheep, lambs don't know what to do.
We may think that Touyang is a national leader, but in fact, he is not. National leaders are only part of the group, and they are selected to meet the interests of certain groups. I think Touyang is a philosopher in the group. They deconstruct all existence and significance, and explore and find directions for the future, just like Marx.
The leaders we are talking about now are actually not thinkers, but some doers. They don't have smart minds and can't think deeply. Right, if you want to be a leader, you can't have this quality, because it will make them hesitate.
This is why a think tank can only be a think tank, not a hero.
But these people were first conquered by a belief of others, and after falling into fantasy, they began to let others fall into fantasy. Only in this way can we arouse the strength of their followers, which will be indestructible. This is what we call faith. This power can make his dream completely enslave this man.
Buddhism, Confucianism, and the way of a gentleman are all the same. Isn't education involved now? It paid a lot of useless experience, wealth and time to fight for some nothingness. However, the molded people can only find the best answer given to them by this society.
If a person has faith, then this person is undoubtedly ten times stronger.
The most reliable and effective way to get an idea into the minds of the masses is to make an assertion, which is concise and powerful, regardless of any evidence and reasoning.
In order for the assertion to have a real impact, we must keep the wording unchanged and repeat the assertion constantly. Napoleon: Repetition is an extremely important figure of speech.
After every concept is accepted by the people, because of its powerful power, it will eventually affect the upper class of society ... The lower class will affect the upper class of society, which is even more peculiar, because the concept of the masses will more or less come from a deeper concept, but in the birthplace of this concept, this concept has no influence.
The prophet has now put forward philosophical thought, but this thought can only play a role in the upper class after it is accepted by the people. But this process is intergenerational and long-term.
As long as you are famous and capable of putting it into practice, even if you persecute them at will and let countless people die in order to fight, people will not express any objection to this practice. ..... In order to let the masses continue to admire them and never tolerate discussion, we must keep a certain distance from them, so as to extend our fame.
The mechanism of fame should also be a survival choice. People appreciate celebrities in the hope of getting more resources from them, or as an imitation. Keeping a distance and refusing to discuss is also to maintain mystery, which represents more information, and distance can ensure that this limited information is not completely deconstructed.
We know Tiberius, Napoleon and Genghis Khan. They are really terrible tyrants, but what we ignore is that the dead Moses, Jesus, Buddha and even Muhammad are still autocratic over human beings, even more profound and authoritarian.
In China, Confucianism, Neo-Confucianism and Psychology have shaped several generations. Is the competition in education modern? Ten years of cold window, learning to be excellent is an official, which has not changed since ancient times. Just like doping, it can temporarily paralyze and cure classroom anxiety, but most people never know whether they are Jin Fan or a genius.
September tragedy, etc. The structure of superego is not stable enough to even guide the group. Under this kind of chaos, there will be all kinds of unpredictable behaviors.
It can be seen that such a jury will also show the characteristics of being easily hinted and lacking in reasoning ability. When the jury is influenced by mass leaders, it is also dominated by unconscious emotions.
Therefore, the western legal system is also imperfect. It can be seen that psychology is also applicable in court As long as people are emotional, it is impossible to avoid this irrationality.
But another strange phenomenon is that no matter what kind of people form a jury, their judgments are basically the same, and there is not much difference.
Although we don't have a jury, we have a Weibo verdict, and we can clearly see the role played by the group unconscious here. People exert their emotions and imagination in the limited reality, and their judgments are almost the same throughout the network. In fact, it does not mean that there is no voice of opposition, but this voice will soon be drowned out, and critics will often hesitate. Things are often reversed, and after the reversal, there is another voice. Did the previous sound disappear? They're just flooded. This kind of voice not only represents the voice of the masses, but also represents the contradiction in everyone's heart. Without higher philosophical wisdom to shape the superego, the unconscious will wander randomly, presenting the scene of Akutagawa Ryunosuke's In the Bamboo Forest in limited reality.
What he needs to do is to win over the soul figures in the judges, who are the core figures who can influence public opinion. Like all other groups, there are a few people in the jury who dominate others.
In the process of any communication with people, we should pay attention to avoid falling into a local field dominated by others and find the key core from this field.
When they are in a group, people's intelligence will become average. In the face of general problems, the voting results of 40 academicians will not be very brilliant compared with those of 40 water sellers.
Only within the scope of his long-term research can a person have a unique insight beyond ordinary people, and experts know no more about most complex social problems than ordinary people.
Various systems and governments have little influence on a nation's life. A nation is mainly determined by its racial temperament, or it can be said that it is determined by the genetic residue of certain characteristics, and what we call temperament, that is, the sum of these characteristics, is actually the mysterious main reason that can determine our destiny, which is actually the shackles of race and our daily needs.
System and government are actually only the choice of groups. After the collapse of the Qing government, Yuan Shikai's restoration was not a personal choice, but a continuation of group thought, which made history embark on this road. Only the political power from the masses can fundamentally change this situation. However, this situation is only a partial change. Under the influence of long-term racial environment and ideas, the core of a nation has strong continuity and stability.
In fact, it is difficult for a leader to walk in front of public opinion, but almost everything he does is in line with public opinion, which will naturally encourage some mistakes in the process.
There are also some leaders with superb intelligence and higher education, but this excellent quality is not very good for them to speak, or even harmful. If you want to explain how complicated a thing is, you need to make some explanations to promote understanding. In this process, the superior wisdom of these leaders will make them generous to a great extent, and this generosity will become insufficient in faith and rude in the eyes of believers.
Dialectical views often lack positions, and the masses can't understand contradictory things. They need to fully understand the implementation from the perspective of minimum resource consumption. Moreover, dialectical views often lack the determination of a certain point of view because of the need for science, because the determination of something will cause a series of consequences, and dialectics needs long-term observation and adjustment, which is considered to be a lack of willpower.
The life cycle of a nation is from barbarism to civilization in the pursuit of ideals, and then, when ideals have no advantages, they will decline and then die.
When the superego that shapes the group loses its guiding significance, new ideas will be needed.
Before we clearly realize the "no-ego" part of ourselves, most people are shaped by the unconscious of this group. When self-cognition is consistent with the social environment, people will actively maintain this unconscious and become a powerful part of it. But when the individual's needs and the group's unconsciousness begin to contradict each other, and when this contradiction develops to a certain stage, new philosophy is needed to guide it. All phenomena are limited choices made under local constraints. These phenomena are manifested under the system philosophy, and everyone who devotes himself to this philosophy is strengthening this system. Without knowing the source of this belief, people need a belief to maintain their position in society and ensure their existence. In ancient times, integrity, backbone, loyalty and filial piety were all the results of this shaping. Once out of this mold, or start to conflict, people themselves will be deconstructed and fall into nihilism.
In today's society, I not only see young people's demands for new philosophy, but also see the continuity of the times constantly affecting everyone and constantly compromising. Where the hell are we going?