Swarm Theory & Group Psychology

Unless the individuals in the group become smarter, it is unlikey the group as a whole will become smarter. Also we must consider the intelligence of the goal. "Herd mentality" can become disastrous if the goal is frivolous.

VERY well stated coberst. I applaud

Thank you. Such a positive attitude is a rare thing on these forums.

A positive attitude seems to be rare everywhere. Life is too short for pessimism.

Swarm mentality is a very interesting concept. We seem to be less and less a society of individualism. Whether in grade school or in the work place, it seems almost frightening to step out and do something or say something no one has done or said before. Free thinking (though the catch phrase of the day) seems to be frowned upon. Unless you run with the herd you are an outcast.

Ideologies are the fundamental beliefs of a group and its members.Social discourse plays an essential role in why we adopt ideology, what we know about it and how ideology becomes the most important sociocentric influence in our life. Discourse plays a fundamental role in the nature of ideology and thus discourse is an important consideration in the study of the nature of ideology.

"...without any consideration..." is important to point out. This has been a pet peeve of mine since I was very young. I guess I was always taught to question everything before internalizing as truth. Dad often played devil's advocate with me to encourage me to think and defend my opinions. What would you say to the notion that perhaps swarm mentality is born of each person's desire to be part of something bigger and simply the desire to have a cause worth the effort. I could put this much more eloquently but have not had enough coffee yet this morning.

In the past (regardless of how you may feel about it) the church was an integral part of any community and family. To some degree each individual felt a part of the church community. Although there were still vigilante groups and lynch mobs I would submit that there were less pointless band wagons and apple boxes. This could be also because living was more difficult then and one was pre-occupied with day-to-day sustenance, where as now we have more frivolous time.