ABSTRACT
A thought collective exists wherever two or more people are actually exchanging thoughts. He is a poor observer who does not notice that a stimulating conversation between two persons soon creates a condition in which each utters thoughts he would not have been able to produce either by himself or in different company. A special mood arises, which would not otherwise affect either partner of the conversation but almost always returns whenever these persons meet again. Prolonged duration of this state produces from common understanding and mutual misunderstanding, a thought structure [Denkgebilde] that belongs to neither of them alone but nevertheless is not at all without meaning. Who is its carrier and who its originator? It is neither more nor less than the collective of [two] persons. If a third person joins in, a new collective arises. The previous mood will dissolve and with it the special creative force of the former [small] collective. (Fleck, 1981, p. 44).
