Mass Consciousness

Posted on June 20, 2004
Filed Under Journal, Spirituality, Consciousness |

Within every culture there are certain ideologies that permeate its society. These can be considered to be modes of living; be they religion, tribal tradition, politics, economics or any other such system. Each and every mode of living impacts upon every individual within the culture they live. These ideologies form the foundation upon which not just society is built; but upon which an individual builds what they perceive as “self”.

Firstly; an important part of this chain is to elaborate upon the distinctions between Individualism and self as they referred to here. True “self” is that which is found within an individual; self is found through introspection and conscious thought whereby the individual builds their own perspective.

Individualism on the other hand is a false sense of self. Individualism is created within an individual through a process whereby society’s ideology is assimilated into the mind, and accepted as ones own thought - without conscious reflection or introspection.

Within these three aspects - Individualism, Society, and Ideology - something almost organic appears to have developed.

Ideology gives form to society, which in turn causes the individual to conform to certain belief systems. This gives rise to the form of “Individualism” as it is described above; meaning society has created within an individual an implanted sense of self. This becomes a cyclic process when this sense of Individualism impacts upon society due to the appearance of ever increasing groups of like minds. Ultimately impacting and altering the nature of that society’s ideology.

Individualism - due to its nature of conformity - results in the formation of like minds which are based on aspects of a society’s ideology. These like minds in essence become networked. The thought patterns become interrelated as they feed of each others “opinions” – be they of a similar nature or a contradictory nature - as they are always based around a central ideology. In essence this becomes a group consciousness; a single mind.

Each culture can be said to have its own cultural mind – or consciousness. This awareness as described above seems to have a symbiotic relationship with individualism. Ideology begets Individualism begets Ideology. However the curiously interesting thing about the nature of this group consciousness is that it appears to move as a single entity – as if possessing an awareness of its own. This consciousness can move an entire culture to act or react in specific manners, or entice certain beliefs or fears. The interconnected nature of Individualism means that individuals do not react as individuals, but rather they act has a whole.

This surely has to raise a key question then; does Individualism reach a point of critical mass, whereby the group consciousness takes on an awareness of its own? An awareness that behaves of its own will, independent of the singular minds that form it?

When we look at any culture that moves or reacts as a cohesive whole…this question surely must become even more pertinent. Through any such large cultural action or reaction – such as war or anger, fear or religion, politics or economics – this consciousness appears again and again. An awareness that causes the individuals to live, act and think in a manner dictated by a blanketing networked consciousness.

In an age where cultural identities are becoming lost and mixed, an age where single systems of living (politics, economics etc.) are spread across the entire globe, we can begin to perceive an emerging global consciousness. This global consciousness appears to be assimilating and thus removing any smaller cultural consciousness.

Further; this “entity” appears to posses a unique aspect. For example; being based on a capitalistic nature it has an ideology based on accumulation, growth and resource expenditure. Under such a culture the nature of Individualism is based on wealth and materialistics. The consciousness that derives from this is one of a materialistic nature. Thus the culture driven by this consciousness acts as a single entity – with the singular aim of accumulation.

This in turn gives cause to yet another realisation. This global consciousness is deeply rooted in a perspective based purely on the physical aspects of life. It appears to discredit and remove any belief in a world that could have ideals higher than accumulation or material wealth. It seems the aim of this awareness is to root humanity within imposed physical constraints, which are ultimately defined by physical control, beliefs and ideals.

Living in such culture, the clear persuasiveness of this consciousness can be felt strongly indeed; often trying to convince an individual to go along with the goals of a material society, and to further feed its momentum of growth. Such means of persuasion are felt both outside the mind and within it, as the mind is pressed into conforming.

“Self” does not derive from such sources. Neither individuality nor understanding can be found in such a system. Therefore we must realise that our attention is focused to the wrong places. The question then has to be; why are we so intent upon allowing ourselves to be diverted away from having an open mind…with its own thoughts, based upon its own introspection?

Marcus - 2004