ationalism by yellow journalism in America during the 19th and 20th century has persistently shaped minds. The media has often been blamed for giving the minds of John Q. Public a thorough washing. However, Emerson also points his finger at public, criticizing them for allowing such blatant manipulation to take place. To Emerson and many others, the group sees, hears and thinks as a hive mind, believing that their doctrine is golden, merely because previous minds found them to be so. Where were the processes of thought? Was it all merely recognition of events, predigested for the masses?These neat prepackaged ways of thought seemed to fit rather snugly with many of today’s post-industrial societies. Today, no one man needs to learn how an automobile works to use it, they need not worry how their water travels to their house or electricity to their outlets. Today, they merely care if these intricate networks of reactions work the way they are required, with the ignorant yet utilitarian ideology of “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it”. With processed food, processed this and processed that, it is no wonder that processed thought comes into play. Societies have historically always shared in misconceptions brought upon by common thoughts. Whether these thoughts were artificially manipulated and implanted or gathered collectively from general sources.Emerson’s individualistic callings may be extreme, however he clearly emphasizes how normative behavior drives society and manipulates behavior and thought on a massive scale. Nevertheless, a person’s development depends as much on the person as the society around them. It is perhaps the classical concept of gene expression, when exposed to certain environments, certain traits would become dominant. With no particular rhyme or reason the environmental aspects such as normative behavior and genetic expression commingle to form what we know as human behavior. ...
