Tom and I were talking the other day about evolution and how wars were effective means of controlling the population in Europe (and for that matter Stalin in Russia ). So here is my thought: What if the group consciousness gave rise to Hitler and other dictators who then led the population into massive wars?
There are several parts to this (admittedly way out in left field) theory. First, would the group conciousness be responsible for shaping an existing susceptible individual into a sociopathic dictator? Second, is it possible, that similar to frogs whose sex is determined by environmental chemicals and constraints, that the individual was shaped in the womb by some currently unrealized energy / pheromone / aura?
I would assume that the catalyst would be pressure for resources: food, water, wood, homes, etc.
Part of the formulation for this theory comes from reading about magick (in the pagan, spell-casting sense). The premise is the conscious manipulation of the group subconscious to bring oneself <insert desire here>. Supposing that the group consciousness exists ( my social psychologist friend Jennifer Ratcliff says there are studies into it, so I assume there is at least some scientific basis for the idea), what would be the evolutionary purpose? What would it be used for? Population control could be as good an answer as any.
Thoughts?
