Several years later I worked briefly in a printshop that published books and discovered how that error occurred. The way books are assembled involves printing sheets of paper with 12, 16, 24 or 32 pages on a sheet (with printing on both sides) which is then folded into what are called signatures. These are then collated so that they can be assembled in their proper order by another machine which stitches them together after which they are trimmed and boxed.
For whatever reason, the publishing house somehow got the first signature backward, thereby creating a "memorable moment" with regards to Nietzsche.
I am in no way going to agree with everything Nietzsche wrote, or what has been attributed to him, but he's certainly been an acute observer of human nature. He also wrote with a keen wit and pointed pen. I say this as a preface to a few comments he made on individuals and crowds.
There is a tension that runs through human history, one that never quite goes away. It is the tension between the individual and the crowd. Because we live in social relationships with others, what happens when our private beliefs are out of sync with the dominant belief systems?
Nietzsche saw it clearly. In Beyond Good and Evil, he wrote, “The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe.” It is a simple observation, but one that carries more truth than we might like to admit.
As social creatures, we long to belong. The pull of the group—whether it be political, cultural, or ideological—is powerful. It offers identity, approval, and a ready-made way of seeing the world. To stand apart can be costly, especially today.
Nietzsche presses the point further: “Madness is rare in individuals—but in groups, parties, nations, and ages it is the rule.” Fifty years later the world experienced global tremors as a result of the national madness of the Third Reich.
Crowds do not merely amplify ideas; they intensify them. They simplify, reduce, and often distort. What might seem unreasonable to a lone person can, in the momentum of a group, begin to feel not only acceptable, but necessary.
This is where the work of Gustave Le Bon comes into play which I wrote about earlier this past month. In that particular blog post I was addressing crowd behavior, especially mobs. But there is a subtler aspect to crowd pressures on individuals. That is, the expectations of peers. In high school you may have been expected to go to college. As a result, many go who really aren't ready or aren't even college material. Their reward is not career success but rather the handicap of college debt.
And today, peer pressure can come from people we've never met other than through their handles on social media.
Expectations driven by peer pressure can cloud one's thinking. When we make life decisions based on what others expect of us, we can spend a lot of time kicking ourselves afterwards.
Nietzsche makes another observation that can be unsettling: “He who cannot obey himself will be commanded.” Self-mastery is not a popular idea. It requires discipline, reflection, and a willingness to stand alone when necessary. And a willingness to be misunderstood.
Without a sense of calling or purpose, we become susceptible—open to being shaped by whatever voice speaks the loudest or the most persuasively. Hint: God speaks in a still, small voice.*
The crowd isn't always wrong, but it is rarely careful. To live thoughtfully requires a kind of resistance—not rebellion for its own sake, but the quiet work of examining what we believe and why. It means holding fast to conscience, even when it is inconvenient.
In the end, the question is not whether we will be influenced. We all are. The question is whether we will be governed from within… or from without.
*1 Kings 19:11-13
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