《乌合之众·第二编·群体的意见与信念·群体的领袖及其说服手段》第12节
[17] Gustave le Bon, "L'Homme et les Societes," vol. ii. p. 116. 1881. Contagion is so powerful that it forces upon individuals not only certain opinions, but certain modes of feeling as well. Contagion is the cause of the contempt in which, at a given period, certain works are held--the example of "Tannhauser" may be cited--which, a few years later, for the same reason are admired by those who were foremost in criticising them. The opinions and beliefs of crowds are specially propagated by contagion, but never by reasoning. The conceptions at present rife among the working classes have been acquired at the public-house as the result of affirmation, repetition, and contagion, and indeed the mode of creation of the beliefs of crowds of every age has scarcely been different. Renan justly institutes a comparison between the first founders of Christianity and "the socialist working men spreading their ideas from public-house to public-house"; while Voltaire had already observed in connection with the Christian religion that "for more than a hundred years it was only embraced by the vilest riff-raff." It will be noted that in cases analogous to those I have just cited, contagion, after having been at work among the popular classes, has spread to the higher classes of society. This is what we see happening at the present day with regard to the socialist doctrines which are beginning to be held by those who will yet be their first victims. Contagion is so powerful a force that even the sentiment of personal interest disappears under its action.
注释摘要
勒庞在这一段要论证的核心观点是：传染不仅强迫人们接受某些意见，也强迫人们接受某些感受方式，而且群体信念的传播从来不是靠理性推理完成的，而是靠传染在起作用。为了证明感受可以被传染，他举了瓦格纳歌剧《唐豪瑟》的例子——这部作品在某一时期遭到普遍的轻蔑，几年之后，当初最激烈批评它的那些人又转而赞赏它。勒庞认为这并非个人独立判断的转变，而是时尚层面的传染效应，同一…