Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1922-02-14
MASS SUGGESTION
By H. Addington Bruce

VX7HEN they speak of "mass. suggestion
| w psychologists commonly mean the in
fluence exercised on the mind and be.
havior of individuals by groups of people
! people, for example, with whom they come
into contact as fellow members of political par
ties, social clubs, labor unions, business organ
izatio1S, etc. But the term may properly be
extended to include the influence exercised by
groups of inaninate objects as we'll as living
beings.
And there are some exceedingly practical rea-
sons for emphasizing the possibilities OF mass
suggestion of this latter kind and making them
widely known. For under present conditions
numerous persons-especally jewellers in cities
are being constantly and needessly exposed to
inanimate mass suggestion hurtful to them.
The meaning of suggestion itself should per-
haps be recalled-"the intrusion into the mind
of ideas which, being i1voluntarily accepted
affect behavior" Now, ideas are intruded into
the mind through the various sense organS-the
ear, the eye, etc. And the likelihood of their
affecting behavior Is usually in proportion to
the frequency with which they are presented to
the mind.
This is why frequent association with groups
of people who have special interests or special
points of view is likely to develop a similar
interest or point of view in the person aSSo-
ciating with them. On the same principle ones
thought and ones behavior are likely to be
ngs-the groups of inanimate obects-amid
which one spends most of his time
Hence the Importance of giving serious
thought to such matters as the decorating and
furnishing of ones home. Hence, too, outside
the home, the influence of mass suggestion
ought to be reckoned with in the case of that
larger group of inanimate objects, the buildings
and streets which constitute the city, the town,
or the village in which the home is situated.
To this phase of mass suggestion il would
seem that scarcely any thought is given in the
majority of cases. 1t is true that there are
many villages, some towns, and a few cities
which, by their cleanliness brightness, and beau
ty, predomina1tly radiate suggestions helpful
to the minds of those living in them But this
can by no means be said to be the rule.
On the contrary, ugly and depressing ideas
are inevitably intruded into the mind by the
architectural deficiencies the untidy streets, the
unkempt vacant lots, the grimy buildings, to be
found in most places of collective human hab-
itation.
Those who live in places thus constituted
may-and in many individual instances con-
spicuously do-succesSfully resist the, deadening
and distorting influence of their mass Sugge-
ton is of all forces the most potent in deter
mining the ways of men, it must always remain
true that citizens of mean cities tend as a rule
to mean modes of thinking.
Here and there are signs that people are
awakening to this truth
Ordinances having the effect of improving
the appearance of a city are here and there be-
ing more vigorously enforced. Landscape archi-
tects, city planners, and other workers in the
field of civic asthetics are finding their services
in increasing demand
But as we: the awakening is far from being
as general as it ought to be-as it must be if
the influence of inanmate mass suggestion is
to be made distinctly contributory to the ma
TONS good
Copyright, 1922, by The Associated Newspa-
perS0