从众心理, 信仰真空 and 精英流逝 in English?

[tooironic]

Hi everyone.

 

I came across these three terms during lectures this week and was wondering whether you could help me think of a reasonable translation of these into English:

 

从众心理: literally, "following-the-crowd mentality"; the act of people just following the mainstream without having their own ideas or beliefs. I guess "herd mentality" or "conformist mentality" are not bad translations.

 

信仰真空: literally, "belief vacuum"; usually refers to Chinese people not knowing what to believe - or a complete absence of belief in anything - after religious beliefs were criticized post 1949 and economic development was made a priority above all else.

 

精英流逝: literally, "elite fading-away"; usually refers to talented and capable people moving from small hometowns to big cities (or abroad), which obviously has a negative impact on those smaller communities. Similar to "brain drain" in English I guess, but not quite the same.

 

Thanks.

[Kenny同志]

精英流逝  should be 精英流失. The first phrase means 精英亡故.

[Michaelyus]

"Spiritual vacuum" for 信仰真空 has become the de facto equivalent.

[陳德聰]

I would call 精英流失 "talent drain" and I believe I've seen it referred to as that before, in the context of colonial countries not allowing domestic-educated international students stay on and contribute to the economic growth of the country.