{Expressive and Active Crowds [continued (3)][: Expressive Crowds]}[10th October 1990]

[Redbook8:19-20][19901010:1531c]{Expressive and Active Crowds [continued (3)][: Expressive Crowds]}[10th October 1990]

.1531

[continued]

‘Expressive crowds. Not all crowds act.* In some crowds the participants are largely preoccupied with themselves or with one another, and with participation in a common experience.** Beginning as early as the 7^th century in Europe, and continuing throughout the Middle Ages, there were reported epidemics in which groups of people were caught up in a frenzy of dancing that continued until they dropped. Later a collective frenzy of dancing,**** singing and shouting became a regular feature of frontier revivals in 19^th-century America. Crowds that exceeded conventional limits of revelry have been common in many historical eras. In San Francisco in 1945, licence for public violation of sexual mores characterised the day of celebration at the end of the war with Japan.

‘Expressive crowds may be secular or religious. What distinguishes them is that the production of a shared subjective experience is the crowd’s measure of its accomplishment, rather than any action upon objects outside the crowd....’

#

*[See last previous entry, especially diagram]

**G~ (Left)

***R~G~J~

[Set out in order vertically downwards in ms]

****{ref [[Redbook8:12A][19901006:2345]{A Shaker Eldress...}[6th October 1990],] 12A}

#E[ncyclopaedia] B[ritannica] 16:612

(& see rest of [Encyclopaedia Britannica] paragraph)

[continued]

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{Expressive and Active Crowds [continued][: Active Crowds]}[10th October 1990]

[Redbook8:18-19][19901010:1531b]{Expressive and Active Crowds [continued][: Active Crowds]}[10th October 1990]

.1531

[continued]

‘Active crowds.* The active crowd identifies some object or group of objects outside itself ** and proceeds to act directly upon it or them. It will brook no delay or interference, *** no discussion of the desirability of acting, and no dissent from its course of action. Because of the high pitch of crowd interaction, subtle and indirect courses of action cannot win crowd support, though members are highly suggestible to all proposals and examples for action in keeping with the mood and the object. The stage of transformation from shared mood to to shared action constitutes the beginning of the true crowd or mob.

‘The crucial feature of this stage is overcoming the barriers to such behaviour as the destruction of property **** or violence towards persons – actions against which most people have strongly ingrained inhibitions. Four aspects of the way crowd members feel about the situation make this possible.

#[‘]First, there is a sense of an exceptional situation in which a special moral code applies. The crowd merely carries further the justification for a special code of ethics incorporated in the slogan “You have to fight fire with fire!”#*

[‘]Second, there is a sense of power in the crowd, with its apparent determination and #** uniform will, that overcomes the individual’s doubts concerning his own ability to carry out a momentous task successfully.

[‘]Third, there is a sense of impunity, of safety from personal injury and punishment so long as the individual is on the side of the crowd.

[‘]And finally, there is a sense of inevitability – that the crowd aim will be accomplished regardless of the doubts and opposition of individuals.’

#***

*[See last previous entry]

**M~ (Outward Action)

***M~ (Right)

****M~→U~→A~

[Set out in downward order in the lower right quarter arc of the Circle, in the ms]

#[Paragraphing from here is added in the ts]

#*[sic]

#**M~

#***E[ncyclopaedia] B[ritannica] 16:611

(& see also rest of section, pp611-612,

eg re peak & decline; & conditions)

[continued]

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{Expressive and Active Crowds}[10th October 1990]

[Redbook8:18-20][19901010:1531]{Expressive and Active Crowds}[10th October 1990]

.1531

*

‘As the mood and object become established, either an ‘active crowd’ or an ‘expressive crowd’ is formed. The active crowd is usually aggressive, such as a violent mob, though occasionally it acts to propel its members into heroic accomplishments. The expressive crowd has also been called the dancing crowd because its manifestations are dancing, ** singing, and other forms of emotional expression.’

***

*(ref [[Redbook8:16][19901007:2155c]{Collective Behaviour [continued (3)][ – Fashion]}[7th October 1990],] 16)

[&ant, presumably, [Redbook8:14-16][19901007:2155]{Collective Behaviour [– Social Unrest]}[7th October 1990]&f]

**J~-G~-R~

[shown in vertical order in the ms]

***[Encyclopaedia Britannica 16:611]

[per next entry]

[continued]

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{The Seven Liberal Arts [continued]}[10th October 1990]

[Redbook8:17][19901010:1121b]{The Seven Liberal Arts [continued]}[10th October 1990]

19901010.1121 (Wed)

[continued]

‘Instead of rectangular diagrams, Étienne Souriau, a French aesthetician of the mid-20th century, offered a wheel-shaped one. By means of this form, he showed how seven basic types of perceptible data (lines, volumes, colours, sounds, and so forth) were developed into complex arts. Using concentric circles, he showed how each type of datum developed into a non-representational and a representational art. Though no such diagram can offer a complete picture, Souriau presents a large number of interrelations, in a simple pattern.’*

*Ibid, [E[ncyclopaedia] B[ritannica] 14:]102

[continued]

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{The Seven Liberal Arts}[10th October 1990]

[Redbook8:17][19901010:1121]{The Seven Liberal Arts}[10th October 1990]

19901010.1121 (Wed)

*

‘Aristotle notes that even if the gentleman practises music for his own pleasure, he should not do it too well.’**

I’m alright, then.***

****#The Seven Liberal Arts of the Middle Ages

(This is very much a right-centred system, and therefore of relatively low value in a C[ircles] A[nalysis] and S[ynthesis] pattern: ie because it is not balanced.)

*!

**E[ncyclopaedia] B[ritannica] 14:99

[Classification of the Arts]

***(sic)

****[The cardinal and diagonal diametrical lines are in red in the ms, indicating that they were added later]

#ref E[ncyclopaedia] B[ritannica] 14:100

[continued]

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{Collective Behaviour [continued (3)][ – Fashion]}[7th October 1990]

[Redbook8:16][19901007:2155c]{Collective Behaviour [continued (3)][ – Fashion]}[7th October 1990]

19901007.2155 (Sun)

[continued]

‘Fashion is much like fads* and other collective obsessions, except that it is institutionalised and regularised, becoming continuous rather than sporadic, and partially predictable. Whereas fads often challenge the established class structure of a society by popularising modes of behaviour deriving from lower echelons, fashion flows predictably from the higher levels to the lower levels, providing a continuous verification of class differences. Continuous change is essential if the higher classes are to maintain their distinctiveness after copies of their clothing styles appear at lower levels. Fashions tend to change cyclically within limits set by the more stable culture.’**

***

****

*[See last previous entry]

**E[ncyclopaedia] B[ritannica] 16:611

***ref II. [re ‘social isolates’ & introverts]

[See last previous entry, 1^st paragraph, & fn=#]

****→[[Redbook8:18][19901010:1531]{Expressive and Active Crowds}[10th October 1990],] p18

(See [[Redbook8:23][19901013:1100]{A Dream; Of Sybil Bathing}[13th October 1990],] p23 re Tue[sday 19901009]

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{Collective Behaviour [continued][ – Fads]}[7th October 1990]

[Redbook8:15][19901007:2155b]{Collective Behaviour [continued][ – Fads]}[7th October 1990]

19901007.2155 (Sun)

[continued]

See also* ibid:**610 re ‘fads’, especially as regards financial speculation; and re ‘hysterical contagion’, which in the case examined (hysterical ‘insect bites’ in a clothing factory) began with ‘social isolates’ (eg J~ types?)*** and then spread among women who belonged to intimate cliques (and finally to others irrespective of isolation or friendship).

Groups – even though extraversion may be a characteristic of C-S~,# organisation #* of S~, and hierarchy #* of the M~ semicircle – must move around the circle like anyone else.

*[See last previous entry]

**[Encyclopaedia Britannica 16]

***because Introverts (& Anxiety)**** are found around J~#

****(G~-J~)

#[By birthdate statistical correlations – see [Redbook2:133][19780831:2240]{Narrative Dreams}[31st August 1978] fn: ‘[A Times 28/10/78 cutting inserted here headed “Birthdays give clue to careers” & “An undiscovered biological rhythm may be the key” reports on statistical research into the effect of birthdays on character and occupation by Professor Alan Smithers of Manchester University’s Department of Education, reported in the American “Journal of Social Psychology” & referenced extensively in later journal entries here.]

#*[a characteristic of]

[continued]

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{Collective Behaviour [– Social Unrest]}[7th October 1990]

[Redbook8:14-16][19901007:2155]{Collective Behaviour [– Social Unrest]}[7th October 1990]

19901007.2155 (Sun)

‘The American urban black uprisings of the 1960s were preceded and accompanied by a rise in tensions in black communities all over the country; the Russian Revolution was preceded by by several years of constant turmoil, involving random assassinations, strikes, and riots.

‘There are several distinguishing characteristics to social unrest.*

First, there is a general impairment of collective life routines. People find it difficult to concentrate on their work or even to adhere to rules in playing games. Any occasion to abandon routines is welcomed.

Second, people are hyper[-]reactive. The magnitude of the response is out of proportion to the usual meaning of any stimulating incident. A small police provocation elicits a major outcry of police brutality, a trivial success is the occasion for large-scale celebration. Milling* and rumour* abound, because incidents that would normally pass with little notice become occasions for both. Third, social unrest is marked by contagiousness. When restlessness is strictly individual, one person’s restlessness merely annoys another. But when restlessness becomes a shared experience, people are highly suggestible to one another. Questioning and exploring alternative courses of action are reduced to a minimum.***

Fourth, social unrest is unspecific with respect to grievances or activities. When there is social unrest in a school, students complain of both restrictions on their behaviour **&* and the lack of clearly defined rules; they find fault both with school administrators and with their fellow students.

Finally, social unrest is perhaps the most volatile of collective states. Unlike rumour or milling, it does not remain focussed on an issue or problem. Unlike crowd behaviour or fads, it has not yet been channelled into one main direction. Although social unrest may eventually die down without any serious aftermath, it is a condition in which people can be easily aroused.’

#

(This [ms diagram] is speculation;

‘social unrest’ also has

characteristics of J~)

[Milling:] eg ‘...People discontinue

routine activities, and talk....’

& eg ‘...People scuffle their feet, leave their seats & walk about,

& sometimes join spontaneously

in co-ordinated rhythmic behaviour such as foot-stamping.’

– E[ncyclopaedia] B[ritannica] 16:608

Note that this is collective (G~)

but not organised (M~) behaviour:

it is in some way spontaneous.

*[Division into paragraphs added in ts from here onwards]

**((the) 2 previous(?) stages of ‘elementary’ collective behaviour

– See E[ncyclopaedia] B[ritannica] 16:608-9)

***NB

****[This seems logical!}

#E[ncyclopaedia] B[ritannica] 16:607ff, Collective Behaviour

[continued]

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{... And* an Islamic Occidentalist}[6th October 1990]

[Redbook8:13][19901006:2345b]{... And* an Islamic Occidentalist}[6th October 1990]

.2345

**

[A press cutting from The Independent for19901006 at p15, which cannot be reproduced for copyright reasons, is headed: ‘An Islamic Reply to the Orientalists. FAITH AND REASON. Dr Shabbir Akthar, education officer for the Bradford Equality Council and author of “A Faith for All Seasons”, returns to close the series on Islam and its observers’]

The cuttings on these two pages* need to be read together, or, rather, in immediate sequences: the first* is the best answer to the second.

I grow tired of addressing imaginary or absent fundamentalists, whether of a religious or a political variety, because I believe that while I can understand the way they think pretty well, they are at present incapable of comprehending the way I think.

The piece on this page reminds me of some of Roger Scruton’s*** writings of some years back; and, indeed, of some of my own writings as a teenager or young adult whose inherited values were under attack by those who did not understand the inherited value of inherited values.

Westerners may understandably be wary of Islam, but contrary to the apparent belief of this and other Muslim writers, they do not hate Islam.

I despair of the hatred in Islam now.

*[See last previous entry]

**{See VII. [[Redbook7:296-297][19900915:1747]{Scholarship and Fundamentalism}[15th September 1990]] 296}

***[Sir Roger Vernon Scruton (27/02/1944-12/01/2020) was an English philosopher and writer who specialised in aesthetics and political philosophy, particularly in the furtherance of traditionalist conservative views (per Wikipedia)]

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{A Shaker Eldress...}[6th October 1990]

[Redbook8:12A][19901006:2345]{A Shaker Eldress...}[6th October 1990]

.2345

[A press cutting from The Independent for19901006 at p14 occupying the whole of this ms page, which cannot be reproduced for copyright reasons, is headed: ‘Obituaries: Eldress Bertha Lindsay’, begins ‘Bertha Lindsay was the last surviving eldress of the Shakers (officially the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing), an American Protestant millennial sect famous for its celibacy and the production of artefacts, notably plain but elegant furniture’, and ends ‘[by] Malise Ruthven. Bertha Lindsey, religious elder, born 1897, author of “Seasoned with Grace: My generation of Shaker cooking” 1897, died Canterbury New Hampshire 3 October 1990’.]*

*[Note from this obituary that ‘The sect was founded by Ann Lee of Manchester, who crossed the Atlantic in 1774’;** & ‘...the period following the visionary era of the 1830s and 1840s,*** when believers had visions of Mother Ann Lee, as the spirit of God incarnated in female form, or conducted conversations with such rarefied spirits as Jesus, Mary Magdalene, Columbus, Washington and Napoleon, saw a remarkable increase in the quality, range and inventiveness of Shaker artifacts [sic]’.]

**{64G~1776[;]512A~})

***{64G~1840[:]512J~}

[Other similar marginal ms notes refer to other parts of the text]

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{The Ring Cycle (1)}[6th October 1990]

[Redbook8:11][19901006:2305]{The Ring Cycle (1)}[6th October 1990]

19901006.2305 (Sat)

(Watched ‘Das Rheingold’, BBC2 TV 18.10)*

**

***

The Ring

Each of the three groups – dwarves, giants (whom I alternatively regarded as a type of developed Dwarf at U~) and gods (whom I then placed at S~ instead of Giants) – noticeably has to choose**** between Love (of one kind or another) and Power: even the Rhinemaidens, perhaps, by their teasing, and neglect of their vocation(?), make this choice.

Alberich the Dwarf has to reject both lust and love (o[uter] c[ircle] and ?i[nner] c[ircle]) in order # to remain where he is – in the end it is his pride which betrays him to Loki, who persuades him to mutate into a toad.

The giants have to choose between Love (Freya) and Power ((the gold and the ring): choosing the latter, one immediately kills the other for it.

Wotan’s choice, as befits a god (and especially one helped by the fire-spirit Loki), is more complex and more compromised: first, between Love (Freya) and Power (the new castle); then between Love (Freya again) and Power (the ring), but by this time the creative and fragmenting Loki has so compromised Wotan that even in choosing the goddess of Love he betrays the self-less Love of the Rhinemaidens.#*

*[Time unclear]

**[S~:] cf [xH] in [2]

[who in the original ts is exceptionally tall]

***(This refers only to ~Das Rheingold as presented tonight, not to Nordic mythology in general)

****{cf [[Redbook8:68][19901027:2148]{The Ring Cycle (2)}[27th October 1990],] 68}

#^(to try) <901007>

#*not according to Loki’s intention however.

→{[[Redbook8:68][19901027:2148]{The Ring Cycle (2)}[27th October 1990],] 68}

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