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NL888 Posted 13 years ago
Grammar
Does "the herd" mean "general public/ordinary people"?
Or the ordinary people suppressed by their authoritarian government?
Context:
On the other hand, what I value in our political system is the more extensive provision that it makes for the individual in case of illness or need. The really valuable thing in the pageant of human life seems to me not the State but the creative, sentient individual, the personality; it alone creates the noble and the sublime, while the herd as such remains dull in thought and dull in feeling.
This topic brings me to that worst outcrop of the herd nature, the military system, which I abhor. That a man can take pleasure in marching in formation to the strains of a band is enough to make me despise him. He has only been given his big brain by mistake; a backbone was all he needed. This plague-spot of civilization ought to be abolished with all possible speed.
More:
http://www.einsteinandreligion.com/worldsee2.html
Context:
On the other hand, what I value in our political system is the more extensive provision that it makes for the individual in case of illness or need. The really valuable thing in the pageant of human life seems to me not the State but the creative, sentient individual, the personality; it alone creates the noble and the sublime, while the herd as such remains dull in thought and dull in feeling.
This topic brings me to that worst outcrop of the herd nature, the military system, which I abhor. That a man can take pleasure in marching in formation to the strains of a band is enough to make me despise him. He has only been given his big brain by mistake; a backbone was all he needed. This plague-spot of civilization ought to be abolished with all possible speed.
More:
http://www.einsteinandreligion.com/worldsee2.html
Top answer
org/wiki/Herd_mentality ". Mark Twain used a harsher manifestation of this phenomenon (mob mentality) in his writings.
- org/wiki/Herd_mentality ".
- Mark Twain used a harsher manifestation of this phenomenon (mob mentality) in his writings.
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3 Answers
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Einstein is referring to "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herd_mentality".
Mark Twain used a harsher manifestation of this phenomenon (mob mentality) in his writings.
Mark Twain used a harsher manifestation of this phenomenon (mob mentality) in his writings.
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Thank you.
Does "that worst outcrop of the herd nature" mean "that worst remarkable feature of the nature of mob mentality"?
Does "that worst outcrop of the herd nature" mean "that worst remarkable feature of the nature of mob mentality"?
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The use of outcrop is unusual here. It means "exposed / visible example.".
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