5: group concepts, reasoning, and imagination

1. group concept

Each civilization is the product of only a few basic concepts that are rarely innovated.

How deep these ideas are in the hearts of groups, how difficult they are to influence the process, and the power of these ideas once they are put into practice.

The great turmoil in history is the result of changes in these basic concepts.

These concepts can be divided into two categories. One is the concept of temporary environmental impacts. The other is the basic concept, which has great stability due to the environment, genetic laws and public opinions.

Concepts can be accepted by groups only in a simple and clear form. Therefore, they must be thoroughly transformed to become easy to understand.

A concept, no matter how great or true it was when it first appeared, its profound or great components, simply because it entered the intellectual sphere of the group and influenced them, it will be wiped out.

Even when a concept is thoroughly transformed to make it acceptable to a group, it is only in the unconscious field, it takes a long time to become an emotion.

Don't think that a concept can at least function in the mind of an educated person just because it is correct.

Obviously, the evidence may be accepted by an educated person, but the believer will soon be brought back to his original point of view by his unconscious self. People will see that in a few days, he will restore his original proof in the same language. In fact, he is still under the influence of previous ideas, and they have become an emotion. Only such ideas affect the most secret motives of our behaviors.

It takes a long time for ideas to take root in the minds of the masses, and the time required to eradicate them is not much short. Therefore, in terms of concept, the group is always behind those of erudite and philosophers for several generations. Today, all politicians are very clear that the basic concepts I mentioned just now are mixed with errors. However, because these ideas are still very influential, they also have to govern based on principles that they no longer believe.

2. Group Rationality

It cannot be said that a group has no rational or unacceptable impact. However, the arguments it accepts and the arguments that can influence it are logically inferior. Therefore, they are called reasoning.

The poor reasoning ability of a group also relies on ideas. However, there is only superficial similarity or continuity between the concepts adopted by the group.

The group reasoning is similar to that of the Eskimo. They learned from experience that transparent ice can melt in the mouth, so they think that glass, which is also a transparent material, will melt in the mouth.

The main feature of group reasoning is to bring together similar things on the surface and generalize specific things immediately. People who know how to manipulate a group provide them with such arguments.

3. Group imagination

The visual imagination of a group is not only powerful, active, but also very sensitive.

The unusual and legendary side of an incident will impress the group, because of this. In fact, an analysis of a civilization will find that the true foundation for its existence is the magical and legendary content. In history, appearance always plays a more important role than truth. unrealistic factors are always more important than realistic factors.

Only images can attract or scare groups and become their motivation.

Dramatic performances that best reflect the character image always have a huge impact on groups.

All audiences share the same feelings at the same time, but they are just the victims of an illusion. Their laughter and tears are all for the strange story they imagined. However, sometimes the feelings produced by the image hint are very strong, so they tend to turn into action just as they usually do.

The manager of the Volkswagen theater had to provide protection for a man who had to leave the theater as a traitor, just because he had staged a gloomy scene, to avoid violent attacks against the evil target audience of the traitor, even though the crime is nothing more than an imaginary product.

When leading a group, especially with this kind of imagination. All major historical events, the rise of Buddhism, Christianity and Islam, religious reform, the French Revolution, and the rise of socialism in our times, it is the direct or indirect consequence of a strong influence on the imagination of a group.

The great politicians of all times and all countries, including the largest tyrant, also regard the imagination of the masses as the basis of their power, and they have never imagined to govern by going against it. Napoleon said to Congress: "by reforming the Catholic Church, I ended the wanday war. By becoming a Muslim, I stood up in Egypt and became a person who believed in the supremacy of the Pope, I won the support of the Italian priest. If I went to govern a Jewish country, I would also repair the temple of Solomon."

It is not the fact itself that affects the imagination of the people, but the way in which they occur and attract attention. If I want to express my opinion, I will say that they must be concentrated to form a staggering image. Master the art that affects the imagination of the masses, and master the art that governs them.