The 50th Law (with 50 Cent)

Keys to Human Nature
At certain moments in life, we humans may experience an energy that
is powerful, with sensations unlike any other, but this energy is
something we rarely discuss or analyze. We can describe it as an
intense feeling of belonging to a group, and we often experience it in
the following situations.
Let us say we find ourselves in a large audience for a concert,
sporting event, or political rally. At a certain point, waves of
excitement, anger, or joy move through us, shared by thousands of
others. These emotions rise in us automatically. We cannot experience
this when alone or with just a few people. In this larger group setting,
we might be led to say or do things we would never have said or done
on our own.
In a similar vein, perhaps we have to give a talk before a group. If
we are not too nervous and the crowd is on our side, we experience a
swelling of emotion from deep within. We’re feeding off the audience.
Our voice changes to a pitch and tone we never have in daily life; our
gestures and body language become unusually animated. We might
also experience this from the other side, when we listen to a
charismatic speaker. That person seems to be invested with some sort
of special force that commands our respect and fills us with increasing
excitement.
Or perhaps we find ourselves working in a group with a critical goal
to reach within a short time frame. We feel compelled to do more than
we normally can, to work extra hard. We feel a charge of energy that
comes from feeling connected to others who are working with the same
urgent spirit. A point is reached at which members of the group do not
even have to talk—we’re all on the same page and can even anticipate
the thoughts of our colleagues.

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The above feelings are not registered rationally; they come to us in
automatic bodily sensations—goose bumps, racing heartbeat, extra
vitality and power. Let us call us this energy the social force, a type of
invisible force field that affects and binds a group of people through
shared sensations and creates an intense feeling of connection.
If we confront this force field as outsiders, it tends to induce
anxiety. For instance, we find ourselves traveling to a place with a
culture very different from our own. Or we begin a job at a workplace
where people seem to have their own way of relating to one another,
with a secret language of sorts. Or we walk through a neighborhood of
a much different social class than what we’re used to—much wealthier
or poorer. In these moments, we are aware that we don’t belong, that
others are looking at us as outsiders, and from deep within we feel
uneasy and unusually alert, although in fact we may have nothing
really to fear.
We can observe several interesting elements to the social force:
First, it exists inside us and outside us at the same time. When we
experience the bodily sensations mentioned above, we are almost
certain that others on our side are feeling the same. We feel the force
within, but we think of it as outside ourselves as well. This is an
unusual sensation, perhaps equivalent to what we feel when we are in
love and experience a shared energy that passes between ourselves and
the love object.
We can also say this force differs, depending on the size and
chemistry of the particular group. In general, the larger the group, the
more intense is the effect. When we are among a very large group of
people who seem to share our ideas or values, we feel quite a rush of
increased strength and vitality, as well as a communal warmth or heat
that comes from feeling that we belong. There is something awesome
and sublime about this force multiplied in a large crowd. This increase
in energy and excitement can easily shift to anger and violence in the
presence of an enemy. The particular mix of people shapes the effect as
well. If the leader is charismatic and bursting with energy, it filters
through the group or gathered masses. If a large number of individuals
have a particular emotional tendency toward anger or joy, that will
alter the collective mood.
And finally, we are drawn to this force. We feel attracted to
numbers—a stadium full of partisan supporters of a team, choirs of

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people singing, parades, carnivals, concerts, religious assemblies, and
political conventions. In these situations, we are reliving what our
ancestors invented and refined—the gathering of the clan, massed
soldiers parading in columns before the city walls, early theatrical and
gladiatorial spectacles. Subtracting the minority who feel frightened by
such gatherings, we generally have a love of partisan crowds for their
own sake. They make us feel alive and vital. This can become an
addiction—we feel compelled to expose ourselves to this energy again
and again. Music and dance epitomize this aspect of the social force.
The group experiences the rhythm and melody as one, and music and
dance are among the earliest forms we created to satisfy this urge, to
externalize the force.
We can observe one other aspect to the social force, in its reverse
form: when we experience a prolonged period of isolation. We know
from the accounts of prisoners in solitary confinement and explorers
isolated in remote regions (see Richard E. Byrd’s account of his
harrowing five months in isolation in Antarctica, in his book Alone)
that they begin to feel disconnected from reality and sense that their
personalities are disintegrating. They become prone to elaborate
hallucinations. What they miss most of all is not simply the presence of
people near them but the eyes of others looking back at them. We
formed our whole concept of ourselves in our first months as we
looked at our mothers; her return gaze gave us a sense that we existed;
she told us who we were by how she looked at us. As adults, we
experience the same kind of nonverbal validation and sense of self
through the eyes of others who look at us. We are never aware of this;
it would take prolonged isolation to understand the phenomenon.
This is the social force at its most basic level—only the eyes of other
people can reassure us that we are real and whole and that we belong.
The social force can make itself felt in our virtual worlds and virtual
crowds. It is less intense than being in an actual crowd, but we can feel
the presence of others in a phantom-like way through the screen
(inside us and outside us), and we continually consult our
smartphones as a kind of substitute pair of eyes upon us.
The social force among humans is merely a more complex version
of what all social animals experience. Social animals are continually
attuned to the emotions of others within the group, aware of their role
in the pack and anxious to fit in. (Among higher primates, this includes

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imitating those higher up in the rank as a show of inferiority.) They
display elaborate physical cues that allow the group to communicate
and cooperate. They have grooming rituals to tighten their bonds, and
hunting in packs has a similar effect. They experience a shared energy
when simply assembled together.
We humans may seem much more sophisticated, but the same
dynamic occurs in us as well, on a completely subverbal level. We
sense and feel what others in the group are feeling. We have an urgent
need to fit in and play our role in the group. We are prone to
unconsciously imitate gestures and expressions, particularly from
leaders. We still like to hunt in packs, through social media or
wherever it is acceptable to vent our anger. We have our own rituals to
tighten group bonds—religious or political assemblies, spectacles,
warfare. And we most definitely experience a collective energy that
passes through any group of like-minded people.
What is most peculiar about this force as it exists within us is how
little we discuss or analyze something that is so obviously common to
our experience. Some of this may come from the fact that it is hard to
study these sensations in a rigorously scientific manner. But there is
also something willful about this ignorance; deep down, this
phenomenon troubles us. Our automatic reactions in a group, or our
propensity to imitate others, reminds us of the most primitive aspects
of our nature, our animal roots. We want to imagine ourselves not only
as civilized and sophisticated but also as individuals with conscious
control of much of what we do. Our group behavior tends to shatter
this myth, and historical examples such as the Cultural Revolution
frighten us with our own possibilities. We do not like to see ourselves
as social animals operating under particular compulsions. It offends
our self-opinion as a species.