ABSTRACT

Naturally, a collective always has an advantage over an individual with respect to observation and ability to notice, which is corroborated by numerous examples, particularly from animal life. In the case of a devastating social disaster, collective attention is directed at the various details of this event, etc. Thus, public attention in social life is attracted by any sensational news, such as the declaration of war, a grandiose undertaking, a new discovery or invention, even by an outstanding book—generally, by everything out of the ordinary. As in the case of individual attention, collective attention is characterized by the fact that every small detail of the event that has attracted collective concentration provokes a collective mimico-so-matic reaction and numerous discussions in society. Naturally, the intensity of concentration is determined by the social importance of a particular event, which, in turn, depends on the extent to which this event touches upon the interests of individual members of a given community or collective.