Collective consciousness is the shared knowledge and beliefs of a group, allowing for common goals and attitudes. It is a primary factor behind human group activity and arises from positive and negative pressure on individuals. The concept of a collective unconscious, proposed by psychologist CJ Jung, suggests that some human concepts are inherited rather than learned.
Collective consciousness is a term used in sociology, the study of human societies. It refers to the knowledge and beliefs shared by all members of a particular group, whether that group comprises a few individuals, a nation, or the planetary population as a whole. Collective consciousness allows members of a group to share common goals, behaviors, and attitudes. It also encourages individuals with differing opinions to conform to the beliefs of the overall group. In short, it makes human society possible.
Primates, including humans, are social animals. Like other social animals like wolves or ants, they prefer to live in groups for a variety of reasons. While it is possible for people to survive in isolation, it is rare for a person to do so by choice. Indeed, such social isolation is considered an extreme form of punishment in many societies. Sociologists and other scientists have studied the psychological basis behind social groups, and collective consciousness is one of the primary factors behind human group activity.
French sociologist Émile Durkheim coined the term collective consciousness in the 19th century. It illustrated what he and other scientists had discovered about the ways humans interact. Since people are fully capable of acting independently, there must be strong motivations for most of them to act in concert with each other most of the time. In all human societies, most members will conform to the group’s attitudes about appearance, behavior, social interaction, and the like, even when viable alternatives exist.
Durkheim proposed that collective consciousness arises from strong positive and negative pressure on the individual. From an early age, everyone learns that some behaviors result in approval from peers, while other behaviors elicit subtle or strong disapproval. Once this knowledge has been fully assimilated, the person will respond similarly to the behavior of others. In this way the values of the group become the values of the individual. This ensures that the individual conforms to social concepts such as laws or moral codes, even if his natural tendency is to do otherwise.
Pioneering psychologist CJ Jung proposed that there was a collective unconscious in addition to the collective consciousness. Jung believed that some human concepts, which he called archetypes, were inherited rather than learned. This would explain why all human societies share some attitudes, beliefs and laws, even those societies developed in isolation. From a psychological point of view, these theories are not only important for the study of human society; they offer insights into how an individual can achieve happiness even if his or her personal goals are very different from those of society at large.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
