Jaron Lanier’s idea of mob switch is the theme of the politically inclined (as always) article by David Brooks – The Spirit of Sympathy:
“As a result of this sympathy and these sentiments, people are usually pretty decent to one another when they relate person to person. The odd thing is that when people relate group to group, none of this applies. When a group or a nation thinks about another group or nation, there doesn’t seem to be much natural sympathy, natural mimicry or a natural desire for attachment. It’s as if an entirely different part of the brain has been activated, utilizing a different mode of thinking.”
This must be one of the most fundamental rules of human existence but it is never explained. In the new media people who peddle tribes never mention that besides the leadership aspect there is the dark side. Missionaries who promote an idea never mention that the mob dynamic take s a life of it’s own independent of the ideological rhetoric. In fact it stands to argue that we pay least attention to the most powerful force.
Further Reading:
The Mob Switch
David Brooks – Western Men Are Doomed
On the Flip Side of a Tribal Site is an Echo Chamber
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