by Infoshelter

Created on: October 28, 2010

The notion of revolution is fairly modern. In fact it has appeared in the course of human evolution exactly when history differentiated itself from mythology. In other words, there is not any hint of societal revolution in bibliographical sources related to the mythological era.

That implies that the formation of society, as we perceive it in our modern era, has taken place in the course of history as opposed to mythology, resulting in the collectivization of thought and the minimization of the individual’s role in social proceedings.

There is a general impression derived from the study of the accounts of mythological events, as they have been expressed in the traditions of different nations, that the individual, either “god” or human, still had the opportunity of personal choice of action, which played a dramatic and vital role in the course of events. A specific individual could bring forward and implement a great change in the way of thinking and perceiving reality. Individualism was at the centre of the evolutionary progress. Certain actions of a god or a human could alter the course of a war or could result in the development of an entirely new civilization.

A significant contribution to that model of individual judgment and action was made by Confucius, who claimed that small groups were primarily responsible for the successful outcome of any effort, in regards to the events related to social evolution. In this line, the power of the individual is diminished and overshadowed by the collective strength of the group. There was growing realization that collective action, though limiting individual initiative, could have a multiplying effect on the end result.

Western civilizations as well, from ancient Greece to the Roman Empire, blended with the ideas of the Renaissance and the achievements of the Industrial Revolution, along with the fascinating breakthroughs of our Information Society, are heavily based on the effect of combined labor.

Moreover, the growth of population is an undisputed and unavoidable fact, highlighting the validity of the Malthusian population theory (once fallen into obscurity but nowadays proved to be as timely as ever), coming forward with new strength, though its name has been changed into Neo-Malthusian. The individual may only play an insignificant part in the course of historic human evolution. Collective institutes, such as political, economical, and social systems, create the “big picture” at macro level, through which the majority of individual or micro preferences are expressed. Affinity and homogeneity in the way of thinking, believing and acting are essential for specific groups to assume power and dominate over other social formations.

In other words, the key factor for both individual evolution and societal revolution is collective thinking, which is the result of the massive scale of events and procedures of social life and activity, empowered by the emergence of globalization. Both the individual and the society are bound by collective thinking and their actions depend on the approval of the “global  herd”.

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