Passage 1
In its ordinary sense the word "crowd" means a gathering of individuals of whatever nationality, profession, or sex, and whatever be the chances that have brought them together. From the psychological point of view the expression "crowd" assumes quite a different signification. Under certain given circumstances, and only under those circumstances, an agglomeration of men presents new characteristics very different from those of the individuals composing it. The sentiments and ideas of all the persons in the gathering take one and the same direction, and their conscious personality vanishes. A collective mind is formed, doubtless transitory, but presenting very clearly defined characteristics. The gathering has thus become what, in the absence of a better expression, I will call an organised crowd, or, if the term is considered preferable, a psychological crowd. It forms a single being, and is subjected to the LAW OF THE MENTAL UNITY OF CROWDS.
Crowds, media, and public opinionFree will and automatismautomatism · advancesScientific or empirical evidenceDiminishes autonomy
Le Bon argues that under particular conditions individuals in a psychological crowd lose their conscious personalities, while their thoughts and feelings converge into a collective mind. The passage therefore presents crowd formation as diminishing individual judgment and agency, using a quasi-psychological explanatory framework.
MENTAL UNITY.; local word range 4261–4685