"The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind" is a highly renowned book, to the extent that even if people haven't read it, many will pretend to have read it. There is much controversy surrounding its evaluation online. I will now discuss my opinion.
Firstly, the shortcomings of this book:
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Although it is generally considered a sociological work, it was written before the emergence of scientific methods such as statistical surveys in sociology. The argumentation of the viewpoints lacks scientific methods and often relies on personal subjective judgments and observations, along with one or two examples. Sociological methods require systematic data collection and analysis, using data to provide results rather than relying on subjective judgments.
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The book is filled with absurd racist views and discrimination against women. It can be argued that this was common during the author's time, but it also indicates that this booklet of human observations should have become outdated.
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The viewpoints presented are not novel; they have been discussed by others before the author and have been subject to more rigorous research afterwards.
However, the continuous popularity and attention given to this book indicate that it is not as simple as it seems. Since its publication in 1895, it has been reprinted at an average rate of less than one year per edition, reaching its 29th edition by 1921. It continues to be a bestseller in China today. If the book was poorly written, yet still remains popular and frequently mentioned, it further proves that the masses are just a crowd who interpret words literally.
One viewpoint in China is that the book's Chinese title is well chosen, allowing everyone to easily use it as a weapon to refer to groups they dislike as the "crowd." If it were titled "Psychology of the Masses" in French, it would not have attracted as much interest.
This may have some truth, but it also holds an irreplaceable position in academia. The propositions he expounded upon have been further elaborated by countless scholars. The success of this book, whether viewed positively or negatively, proves its value.
Considering the background of its publication, the constant revolutions and restorations in France, and the frequent changes of government, people were exhausted. The masses were like grass swaying in the wind. The author, a doctor, was not much different from a witch doctor before modern medicine emerged in the West. He conducted amateur research on crowd psychology, expounding on social psychology that emphasized ethnic characteristics and racial superiority. Initially, he developed measurement methods for the physical characteristics of different races, and later he developed a theory of racial classification hierarchy. For example, he believed that Anglo-Saxons were intellectually superior to Latin people, as well as other ethnic groups and women.
Le Bon's ideas were destined to appear, even if he himself never existed. It just so happened that he expressed them in concise yet comprehensive language, filled with decisive assertions. Interestingly, liking to hear assertions is also a characteristic he believed the masses possess, blindly following.
I think this may be due to the following reasons:
Firstly, the book's concise and assertive systematic induction conforms to the reading habits of ordinary people, or what he calls the "crowd." As for the lack of argumentation and reliance on isolated evidence, future generations have provided more shocking evidence supporting certain viewpoints in the book.
More importantly, the book discusses a problem that we have not been able to solve: what is the public, the development of history, human progress, and what is democracy? Politicians may flatter the public with their words, but in reality, they either think that those who vote for others are fools or that those who vote for themselves are fools.
The author himself holds conservative views and has a deep fear of revolution and the masses. This is also true for conservatives like Burke and Lord Acton. Understanding the face of the masses goes beyond the left or right of ideology, and this understanding is not so easy and pleasant for many well-intentioned people. For example, Fromm's concept of "escape from freedom" and Arendt's concept of "the banality of evil." Ambitious left or right politicians flatter the masses while using them, often with success. Nowadays, based on big data, like Cambridge Analytica, platform websites, or scam groups, it is possible to accurately select a large audience that meets one's needs and gain huge benefits.
As for the praise the author gives to the Anglo-Saxon people during their heyday, the success of conservatism was merely a historical coincidence. No one, whether it be the king, nobility, or emerging bourgeoisie, could eliminate each other, thus protecting the private property of the emerging bourgeoisie. Britain's development began with the steam revolution and the free trade of industrial products, which inevitably led to the rise of a large working class in industries such as textiles and coal. The industrial revolution and the rise of nationalism also inevitably gave the working class a voice, making Britain a typical representative of a bloated social welfare system. However, without social welfare, who would buy industrial products? History pushes society forward, unable to reminisce about the golden age of the empire where the sun never sets. The current British Parliament is more like a show where the public pays to watch spitting contests.
Times have changed, and now conservatism in various countries represents the voice of the disillusioned in globalization and technological progress, resembling the populist sentiment of the lower class. Just like the United States, which inherited the British Empire, is now facing a divided situation.
Due to the resurgence of Reagan-Thatcher conservatism, many right-wing intellectuals in China's previous generation were conservatives. But since the cornerstone of conservatism is tradition and experience, what are they conserving? Therefore, we can see many of them taking strange development paths, such as Confucianism, Christianity, Austrian economics, and so on. Representative figures include Qiu Feng, Liu Junning, Li Zichang, and others, as well as some unnamed individuals whose ultimate paths are only marked by humor and sadness. (For those unfamiliar with Liu Junning, you can look up his preaching books. They advocate women being submissive and producing more offspring. Similar to other representative figures like Wang Yi.)
Finally, I will share my viewpoint. Due to cultural and innate differences, there are significant differences between individuals. They cannot be generalized. The most important factor is the influence of cultural atmosphere on the next generation. What we need to do is establish an open, diverse, respectful, and understanding cultural atmosphere, moving away from closed cultural environments that cultivate hatred and prejudice. Although humans have differences in endowments and abilities, in an open environment, they can still exist as independent individuals. Although human history, especially in the past century, has faced many difficulties, ultimately, hatred has not been able to overpower love and tolerance. Significant progress has been made in areas such as racial equality, women's rights, and LGBTQ rights (the equal rights and freedom of the weak and minorities are core issues in the fight for freedom, which may not be so obvious, but they are indeed). As for the future, it is not something we can know.
There are many translations of this book, and I recommend the translation by Feng Keli. It includes an introduction by Feng Keli and an English version by Morton.