From a quick search, I assume this is Gustave le Bon, a French polymath know mostly for his work in crowd psychology. There's a lack of clarity in his "civilization lifecycle," though maybe it can be found in his 1895 book The Crowd: A Study of The Popular Mind. Is *any* shared ideal enough to create a civilization? Why does the ideal weaken? What does he mean by "collective purpose," by "egoism?" His "lifecycle" seems deterministic to me, and he doesn't appear to be a fan of individualism. Le Bon lived from 1841-1931.
"The Crowd" is a great, short read. Mandatory background for investors. Identifies repeated patterns of human behavior. I wouldn't say he was a determinist; he simply described the patterns he observed. I agree that his description of civilizational cycles is weak. Ray Dalio's are better. Le Bon's observations on crowd behavior are very thought-provoking!
Thanks, Jim. That's helpful. I said his lifecycle seemed deterministic because I thought he presented it as being inevitable, but maybe I'm seeing something that isn't there.
I agree that's the implication, but he talks about how people can go crazy in crowds, but act rationally as individuals, so he definitely sees individuals as self-determined to at least some degree. I'd call him a good journalist, not a theorist.
From a quick search, I assume this is Gustave le Bon, a French polymath know mostly for his work in crowd psychology. There's a lack of clarity in his "civilization lifecycle," though maybe it can be found in his 1895 book The Crowd: A Study of The Popular Mind. Is *any* shared ideal enough to create a civilization? Why does the ideal weaken? What does he mean by "collective purpose," by "egoism?" His "lifecycle" seems deterministic to me, and he doesn't appear to be a fan of individualism. Le Bon lived from 1841-1931.
"The Crowd" is a great, short read. Mandatory background for investors. Identifies repeated patterns of human behavior. I wouldn't say he was a determinist; he simply described the patterns he observed. I agree that his description of civilizational cycles is weak. Ray Dalio's are better. Le Bon's observations on crowd behavior are very thought-provoking!
Thanks, Jim. That's helpful. I said his lifecycle seemed deterministic because I thought he presented it as being inevitable, but maybe I'm seeing something that isn't there.
I agree that's the implication, but he talks about how people can go crazy in crowds, but act rationally as individuals, so he definitely sees individuals as self-determined to at least some degree. I'd call him a good journalist, not a theorist.