Emotions amplify through a process he called “mutual induction,” where one person’s excitement sparks another’s, escalating rapidly.

ndividuals lose their sense of self

Crowds are dynamic. They are adaptable. But perhaps their most important and least appreciated feature is that they are a pathway to understanding our social selves.

“The collective is so important in forming our everyday identities

individuals in crowds do not abandon their rationality or surrender their identity to a mob mentality. They do not lose their minds. They do, however, become highly sensitive to what those around them are doing, and become strongly cooperative as a result.

Most of us seem convinced that crowds inhabit a psychological shadow land of primitive urges and unrestraint, where individuals are stripped of their identity and led unthinking to violent or irrational acts.