The description of “mass formation psychosis” offered by Malone resembles discredited concepts, such as “mob mentality” and “group mind,” according to John Drury, a social psychologist at the University of Sussex in the U.K. who studies collective behavior. The ideas suggest that “when people form part of a psychological crowd they lose their identities and their self-control; they become suggestible, and primitive instinctive impulses predominate,” he said in an email.

It's perfectly fine to yell "Fire" in a crowded theater, according to the new rules. In addition, the people who flip over cars and burn sofas after their city's sports team wins the big game never had self control to begin with, and their identity revolves around lighting things on fire to celebrate.