Egregores are composed of, *run on*, multiple human brains, potentially millions of them, but they are (usually) far less complex, *lower-dimensional*, than humans. It's a bandwidth issue: an egregore doesn't only rely on language for transmission, but for all of its cognition.
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Written language allowed egregores to advance in complexity by using text as long-term storage -- holy writ, contracts, regulations etc. This allows an advanced egregore a degree of independence from individual minds. But most egregores are much smaller and more primitive.
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This is why a fully owned human sounds eerily like a simple computer program when carrying out the egregore's will: the egregore is much simpler than the mind hosting it.
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As a footnote, this suggests a strategy for resisting egregore infection: When you notice everyone agreeing on some subject, train yourself to avoid that subject and reserve judgment. Kneejerk contrarianism isn't enough, not "you're wrong!" but "I dunno about that."
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To clarify: Train yourself to avoid _discussing_ that subject, or repeating what you hear. If you choose to _investigate_ the subject, that's great, but it isn't always practical. Remaining ignorant of the media explosion du jour is always a wise choice.
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Replying to @St_Rev
Interesting. So but is there a mode of collective action that doesn’t fit this definition of egregore? I guess when people are knowingly aligned instead of just by subconscious assumption? But even that might have non-self-aware participants. Can something be part-egregore?
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Replying to @dicey__
"Egregore" is an extended metaphor for trying to understand the behavior of groups of humans that behave as-if they had agency separate from the constituent humans. How relevant that metaphor is varies.
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I think "collective action" is virtually always evil and I personally avoid it at all costs, but I'm not going to claim that's intrinsic to the model, or that the model is universally applicable.
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Replying to @St_Rev
Collective action is any time people work together to solve a shared problem. How can that be “virtually always evil”? The alternative, alienated and atomized people working at cross-purposes, leads to much more harm, and renders groups incapable of resisting outside evils.
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. Banned in Sweden. SubGenius, Zhuangist, white-hat troll. Defrocked mathematician. Brain problems.