In an experiment conducted by famous English mentalist Derren Brown, he discovered something disturbing.  The more depersonalized you are, the more likely you are capable of acts of cruelty.  And this depersonalization is as the result of being a part of a Social Collective, or in this case, being a part of an audience all wearing the same physical masks.

Collectives serve to depersonalize you in order to brainwash you and fill your head with ideas of grandeur, moral uprightness and superiority.  Sometimes the cracks occur to you, sometimes they don’t.  But one of the hardest things in life is to break free from them.  To stand by yourself and to be the off one out takes great strength of character.

Social Collectives are a distraction from the greater purpose in life – self growth.  How can we learn or grow with an open mind if it’s crammed full with false notions and beliefs?  We must find ourselves first in order to lose ourselves later.  Not the other way around.