slumbreon's review against another edition
Read this for class, and was surprised about how much I enjoyed this/how engaging it was. Presented some great thinking points about the formation of groups, and got my mind working about how these underlying psychological factors can create the extremist groups that are now seemingly rampant (as it should- since that is the topic of the class!). My first Freud book, and now I am no longer intimidated next time one is assigned!
uroybd's review against another edition
3.0
ওয়েল... পুরোটা একইরকম কনভিন্সিং লাগে নাই। স্পেশালি প্রিহিস্ট্রিক্যাল জায়গাগুলো। সব মিলিয়ে মন্দ না।
teelock's review against another edition
5.0
In this monograph, Freud describes psychological mechanisms at work within mass movements. A mass, according to Freud, is a "temporary entity, consisting of heterogeneous elements that have joined together for a moment." He refers heavily to the writings of sociologist and psychologist Gustave Le Bon (1841-1931), summarizing his work at the beginning of the book in the chapter Le Bons Schilderung der Massenseele ("Le Bon's description of the group mind"). Like Le Bon, Freud says that as part of the mass, the individual acquires a sense of infinite power which allows him to act on impulses that he would otherwise have to curb as an isolated individual. These feelings of power and security allow the individual not only to act as part of the mass but also to feel safety in numbers. This is accompanied, however, by a loss of conscious personality and a tendency of the individual to be infected by any emotion within the mass, and to amplify the emotion, in turn, by "mutual induction". Overall, the mass is "impulsive, changeable, and irritable. It is controlled almost exclusively by the unconscious."
deearr's review against another edition
4.0
Over the last few years, I have pondered the dynamics of group psychology. We see events on TV and the Internet, yet sometimes the underlying evil which appears to be present is difficult to assign to the individuals participating. In other words, the group actions may be unthinkable to an individual; nevertheless, the event happened when they all participated as a group. Curious about the possibilities, I ventured into Freud’s “Group Psychology.”
This is a short book, but I would not classify it as a quick read. Sometimes it is the translation, other times it is the subject, but a little perseverance makes it all readable and understandable. Some of it seems to be common sense knowledge that appears to be already known by the reader, but sound reasoning is also present and the resultant knowledge gained on the psychology of crowds can be enlightening as well as unnerving. Interesting reading for the curious. Four stars.
This is a short book, but I would not classify it as a quick read. Sometimes it is the translation, other times it is the subject, but a little perseverance makes it all readable and understandable. Some of it seems to be common sense knowledge that appears to be already known by the reader, but sound reasoning is also present and the resultant knowledge gained on the psychology of crowds can be enlightening as well as unnerving. Interesting reading for the curious. Four stars.
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