In social activities, group behavior often attracts people's attention, especially when it involves large-scale collective activities and public opinion trends. The performance of the group is often irrational and emotional. Gustave Le Bon proposed in "The Crowd": "The crowd is not good at reasoning, yet it is eager to act. Individuals in the crowd are like grains of sand, easily stirred by the wind." This statement highlights the characteristics of the group and the dilemma of individuals within it—individuals can easily become lost in the crowd and go with the flow. When a group expresses a common stance, it often amplifies emotions, making rationality and deep thinking scarce. Such blind conformity and impatience often lead to irreversible consequences. In this context, how individuals maintain independent and rational thinking under the pressure of the group becomes a crucial ability that needs attention.

One of the most significant characteristics of group psychology is the "emotional amplification effect." When individuals merge into a group, they often lose part of their self-awareness, making it easier for their emotions to be influenced by the group atmosphere. For example, on online platforms, some people quickly express dissatisfaction out of anger towards a specific event. As the group intervenes, this anger is continuously amplified and transmitted, even gradually evolving into insults or malicious attacks. Driven by such emotions, people lose their rational judgment and calm thinking about the event. This phenomenon is more pronounced in collective activities—once negative emotions arise within the group, even the emotions of a few individuals can quickly spread, affecting the attitudes and behaviors of the entire group, making rational voices hard to be heard. Therefore, the group often manifests as an impulsive force, which, while uniting individuals, also weakens or even obliterates personal rationality and self-awareness.

Conformity is another characteristic of group behavior. When individuals find themselves in a group, they are easily influenced by the opinions of others and may even completely rely on the group's judgment. This conformity is rooted in the human need for belonging and the fear of isolation. When the majority holds a certain opinion or emotion, individuals tend to follow others to gain a sense of "group safety." For example, in social issues or major news events, many people choose to conform to the majority opinion rather than independently think about the truth or complexity of the event. This "going with the flow" mentality makes people more dependent on group judgments, weakening their independent judgment ability, ultimately leading group behavior away from rationality.

The emotional and impulsive characteristics of groups are often irrational. Collective decision-making tends to lean towards emotions because the sense of responsibility borne by individuals in the group is dispersed, and people no longer feel accountable for their words and actions. A common example is the phenomenon of "keyboard warriors" on social media, which is a concrete manifestation of group psychology. Anonymous commenters speak freely online, attacking and blaming others, and when questioned, they defend themselves by saying, "I'm just following the trend" or "Everyone is saying this." This phenomenon highlights the lack of self-restraint among individuals in the group; as a result, they are more easily swayed by emotions and group consciousness, becoming impulsive and impatient.

However, individual independent reasoning and rational analysis are often suppressed in groups. Psychological research shows that individuals in groups may intentionally or unintentionally abandon their rational reasoning and rely on others' judgments, especially when faced with rapid public opinion direction or collective emotions. This leads many situations that should be analyzed calmly to evolve into irrational collective behavior. For example, in some large-scale protest activities, the initial intention may be a reasonable demand, but the push of emotions can easily lead to extreme actions. Independent reasoning requires us to remain calm and treat every action within the group with caution, avoiding being swept away by emotions and making decisions that contradict rationality. This is also a psychological quality that individuals need to continuously cultivate in group life.

Individuals in a group often feel their own power is insignificant, thus abandoning their constraints and sense of responsibility for their actions. In other words, the sense of responsibility of individuals in a group is diluted. American psychologist Philip Zimbardo's "Stanford prison experiment" revealed how individuals in a group are governed by the phenomenon of "responsibility transfer." The existence of a group atmosphere makes individuals feel like they are just "one among many," and do not need to be accountable for their actions. As a result, individuals' behavior in groups often exceeds their personal limits. This transfer of responsibility further exacerbates the irrationality of group behavior, causing the group to gradually lose control and ultimately leading to the extremization of group behavior. This not only has a negative impact on individuals but also poses a potential threat to society as a whole.

In the face of the group's eagerness to act and emotional tendencies, we should maintain a clear self-awareness in group environments to avoid being swept away by the group's blind impulses. Individuals need to form a clear set of values in their minds and use this as a basis for their actions, rather than relying on external emotional drives. Upholding independent thinking does not mean opposing the group, but rather viewing the emotional fluctuations within the group with a calmer mindset, discerning which emotions are worth accepting and which need to be filtered calmly. For instance, in public opinion disputes, one should try to gather information from multiple perspectives, avoid rushing to express opinions or take sides, and give oneself enough time to think. Only by maintaining independent thinking can individuals find their own voice and position within the group, without getting lost in the surging waves of the group.

In today's information society, the influence of groups and the power of "conformity" cannot be ignored, but the role of individuals within it should not be underestimated either. Individuals need to possess group awareness, constantly being alert to whether they are being influenced by emotions and whether they are making rational judgments. When faced with rapidly spreading information or opinions, one should maintain a sense of skepticism and calm. Especially under the influence of social media, the fragmentation of information and the emotional amplification effect are continuously increasing, making it particularly important to remain calm and objectively analyze information. Avoiding blind conformity is not only a rational choice but also a responsibility that individuals must bear, serving as an important force for making social public opinion more rational.

In summary, the emotionality, eagerness to act, and conformity of groups are prevalent social phenomena, but individuals' rationality and sense of responsibility within groups can still be maintained or even enhanced. In the face of the irrational tendencies of groups, individuals can avoid going with the flow by enhancing their self-awareness and sense of responsibility, and still adhere to rational analysis and independent thinking under group pressure. While the existence of groups brings undeniable power, the rational actions and thoughtful behaviors of each individual are the driving force that makes the group more rational. In the surging waves of modern society, individuals maintaining their self and insisting on rationality not only enhance themselves but also actively promote social progress.

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