[Excerpt from manuscript chapter 4]
The concept of collective consciousness has long occupied scientists. Collective consciousness refers to the assumption that groups of people, such as societies or cultures, can develop a shared consciousness that goes beyond the individual consciousness of the group members. Émile Durkheim argued that collective consciousness is strengthened by communal rituals and practices that bind individuals together. This perspective was further developed by Mary Watkins and Helene Shulman, who showed how rituals and shared experiences contribute to the emergence of collective identity and solidarity. Carl Gustav Jung saw the collective unconscious as a source of cultural change and social transformation. Similarly, Cornelius Castoriadis argues that collective consciousness forms the basis for the creation of new social realities.
However, thinkers such as Adorno and Horkheimer warned against the totalitarian tendencies of collective forms of consciousness. Similarly, Slavoj Žižek argues that collective consciousness runs the risk of leading to conformism and oppression. Current research on collective consciousness covers a broad spectrum of perspectives and theories.
Research by Jacek Debiec and Andreas Olsson suggests that neural mechanisms such as mirror neurons play a role in the development of collective consciousness by promoting the ability to empathise and adopt perspectives. In their studies, Pierre Levy and Howard Rheingold have investigated the extent to which digital technologies promote the development of new forms of collective consciousness in virtual communities. More recent studies have focussed on analysing the effects of social media on collective dynamics.
The relationship between collective consciousness and artificial intelligence is also an increasingly relevant field of research at the interface of cognitive, social and computer sciences.