《乌合之众·第一编·群体的心理·群体的一般特征·心理统一律》第6节
It is precisely these general qualities of character, governed by forces of which we are unconscious, and possessed by the majority of the normal individuals of a race in much the same degree--it is precisely these qualities, I say, that in crowds become common property. In the collective mind the intellectual aptitudes of the individuals, and in consequence their individuality, are weakened. The heterogeneous is swamped by the homogeneous, and the unconscious qualities obtain the upper hand. This very fact that crowds possess in common ordinary qualities explains why they can never accomplish acts demanding a high degree of intelligence. The decisions affecting matters of general interest come to by an assembly of men of distinction, but specialists in different walks of life, are not sensibly superior to the decisions that would be adopted by a gathering of imbeciles. The truth is, they can only bring to bear in common on the work in hand those mediocre qualities which are the birthright of every average individual. In crowds it is stupidity and not mother-wit that is accumulated. It is not all the world, as is so often repeated, that has more wit than Voltaire, but assuredly Voltaire that has more wit than all the world, if by "all the world" crowds are to be understood.
注释摘要
勒庞在这一段里完成了他全书最核心也最具挑衅性的一个论证转折。他刚才已经指出，群体中形成了某种集体心理，个体“个性消失”，现在他需要解释清楚：当个体汇入群体之后，他们共通的部分究竟是什么，以及这种共通的后果是什么。 他的论证路径是这样的。他先把现代心理学的一个基本判断摆到台前——人的精神生活中，无意识现象占据着压倒性的支配地位。这对十九世纪末的读者来说，还是…