Granfalloon

A granfalloon, in the fictional religion of Bokononism (created by Kurt Vonnegut in his 1963 novel Cat's Cradle), is defined as a "false karass".

That is, it is a group of people who affect a shared identity or purpose, but whose mutual association is meaningless.

The most commonly purported granfalloons are associations and societies based on a shared but ultimately fabricated premise.

Examples from Cat's Cradle include: "the Communist Party, the Daughters of the American Revolution, the General Electric Company—and any nation, anytime, anywhere."

A more general and oft-cited quote defines a granfalloon as "a proud and meaningless association of human beings.

– Kurt Vonnegut, Cat's Cradle They had found a can of white paint, and on the front doors of the cab Frank had painted white stars, and on the roof he had painted the letters of a granfalloon: U.S.A. – Kurt Vonnegut, Cat's Cradle In the English translations of the several entries of the popular video game series Castlevania, the name Granfalloon has been used as an alternate name to represent the Judeo-Christian demon Legion.

Particularly noted in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night as a mass of living corpses whom the protagonist Alucard, son of Dracula, fights against as one of the game's many bosses.

In his research, Tajfel found that strangers would form groups on the basis of completely inconsequential criteria.

Second, social groups provide a source of self-esteem and pride, a form of reverse Groucho Marxism as in his famous remark "I don't care to belong to any club that would have me as a member.