Mittens The Kitten said:
Edit: I'm seeing a lot of comments on how groups are dumb while individuals are not, this seems like a very lonesome view of the world, as it seems to imply that people shouldnt interact socially. Also, i highly doubt that it's any more than an excuse to say people are stupid while excluding yourself from "people".
Its called a group mentality. Basically, if a single individual becomes part of a group, he is no longer an individual, but a small part of a larger organism. But with that, he develops a mentality that essentially stifles his own individual thought for what the group thinks. Sǿren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Sigmund Freud all have a theory on the human mind in a group setting; though Sǿren, views it as a dangerous and unruly beast, Friedrich views the need for a Übermensch, or Over/Super man, to lead the group, to which Freud agrees in most respects.
Basically, the arguement that people are stupid in groups is because when people get into a group, their actions are not dictated by their own beliefs or ideals, but by the group. Its not a attack against Socializing, as much as a warning to avoid becoming a sheep to the mob.