The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind - Gustave Le Bon

Category: Adults, Misc. Non-fiction, Science
Language: English
Keywords: Classics Nonfiction Philosophy Psychology Sociology

Written by Gustave Le Bon
Read by John Clickman
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 128 Kbps
Unabridged

In The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind, French social theorist Gustave Le Bon gives historical insight into the political thinking of his era while offering timeless social commentary. Le Bon challenges the listener to contemplate how individual ideas change - often to a destructive end - when employed in a setting of groupthink. As technology & communications innovations make group formation easy & accessible for better or for worse, this book’s message is certainly one that will not be lost in the crowd.
Crowds are guided by feelings, impulses & imagination rather than logic or facts. Ideas spread fast through emotional contagion. He observes that a crowd forms when an influential idea unites a number of individuals & prompts them to act towards a common goal, even immoral ones.
Early 20th-century political leaders & writers studied Le Bon’s theories to understand how to sway public opinion & mass movements.

Originally published in 1895.

Length: 5 hours and 35 minutes.