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The phenomenon of collective misery and the drive for emotions to be shared by a crowd are rooted in deep-seated human biological and social mechanisms. This "groupishness" often manifests as a powerful urge to synchronize feelings with others, particularly during times of crisis, shared grievance, or perceived threat.

The "Kinship of Suffering" in Disasters

Collective misery can serve as a profound bonding agent. In the aftermath of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, survivors described a "sweet kinship of suffering" where class and ethnic divisions—the "artificial barriers" of society—were temporarily swept away. This "culture of calamity" provided a sense of community and "fleeting transcendence" as individuals met a "common peril" buoyed by a "common hope". For many, the disaster introduced a "draught of realities" that contrasted with the perceived insubstantiality of everyday life, allowing them to feel an authentic sense of self through shared passion and struggle.

The "Red Light" Mentality and Crowd Adrenaline

In political and media contexts, shared emotions are often intentionally cultivated to create a unified crowd response.

• Adrenaline and Synchronization: Attendees at rallies are described as becoming "charged with free-floating adrenaline" once they enter the venue, reacting as a collective to "call-and-response" inputs.
• The "Red Light" Effect: In this state, crowds can become objects that yield specific outputs—such as anger, approval, or love—in response to simple stimuli. This has been called the "mentality of the red light," where there is no memory or empathy for the "other," only the immediate reaction of the collective in the moment.
• Grievance as Identity: Platforms like Fox News have historically built a brand identity around "conservative grievance," telling viewers they are oppressed by rivals regardless of who is in power, thereby making shared resentment a permanent fixture of their tribal identity.

The Role of Social Media in Sharing Misery

Modern technology has significantly amplified the feeling that emotions must be shared to be valid.

• The Empathetic Gaze: Disaster consumption in the digital age relies on an "empathetic gaze" that encourages spectators to identify with the subjective experiences of victims on screen. This mediated empathy often focuses on individual suffering as a proof of "moral worth" for both the performer and the audience member.
• Outrage and Tribalism: On platforms like YouTube, "outrage and tribalism" are the most effective ways to activate user emotions. Individual hardships are often recontextualized into a wider conflict—a "tribal struggle of Us and Them"—where misery is shared to regain a sense of control.
• Online Mobs: Collective emotions can turn into "screeching outrage" in online mobs, which use "merciless fury" and "gossip" to weave an illusion of consensus. These mobs do not seek to win over rivals but rather to achieve the "maximal removal of their status".

Biological and Psychological Drivers

The feeling that emotions must be shared is driven by specific biological systems:

• Mirror Neurons: Human mirror neurons track the rewards and pain of those around us, allowing us to "mirror" emotional states like distress.
• Groupishness: Humans possess an ancient "alarm box" in the brain that activates a "rally-round-the-flag reflex" during attacks, creating an overwhelming sense of team membership and a desire to support the collective "team".
• Powerlessness and Rage: A lack of self-affirmation or a feeling of being "powerless to make the system work" can lead to shared outbursts of rage. When individuals reach a state of "unfeelingness" or despair, it often develops into a readiness for "wild aggression and violence" that is shared by the marginalized collective.

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From The Audience of One