Everyone shares at least this one moment when they were a child and did something really, really stupid. And when interrogated by their father or mother, asking why did you do something so dumb, your excuse most likely sounded like this...
"Well, Billy did it," or whoever your partner in crime, at that time happened to be.
As long as you live, you will never, ever forget your parent's response, right before handing down your punishment.
"If everyone else jumped off a cliff,
would you jump, too?"
“Stupidity condenses in a crowd”
Its as simple as that, folks. Oh sure, there will always be those 'Nervous Nancys,' as I call them, who, if told to balance a pancake on their head and hop on one foot, they'd most assuredly do it. Some, because they were instructed to do so, and others, maybe fearing some sort of punishment if they failed to obey...The children's game, Simple Simon Says, comes to mind. The 'Wearing of THE MASK' thing is exactly that. FEAR of some vague man-made retribution.
And then, of course...as illustrated in our 'jumping off a cliff' analogy, when you were a child...it might have been something as simple as, just wanting to fit into the crowd, and not be the oddball weirdo going against the grain.
I came across this excellent explanation of humans reacting with the herd mentality, and it dovetails so nicely with today's grotesque 'wearing of the mask' phenomenon. This from Susanna Viljanen, who works at Aalto University, located in Espoo, Finland.
"Humans are herd animals and they tend to do what the herd does. There is a proverb in Finnish which translates “Stupidity condenses in crowd”, meaning the average intelligence of a herd is always lower than that of the individuals forming it, the humans lose their sense of responsibility and self-control and they follow their instincts rather than conscience and reason. Humans in herd are prone to commit far more stupid deeds than they would ever do individually.
Humans in a herd tend to do stupidities because the others do too as well. They simply follow what the others do. This is known as Diffusion of responsibility. They commit stupidities because the herd identity protects them from consequences and from taking responsibility of their actions. This is the vaunted herd intelligence. Humans want to be members. They want to be accepted. They want to be part of the herd. They will do anything to conform to the norms of the herd. And once they see someone jumping, they will follow the norm and jump.
The only ones who would not jump are those known as “cranks”, “weirdos”, “odd types” or “outsiders”. Those who either avoid the natural herd instincts of the normie humans - or those who have been ousted off the herd for a reason or other. They usually are people who go their own way but they usually too are people who you would not like to have your neighbor." *
Humans in a herd tend to do stupidities because the others do too as well. They simply follow what the others do. This is known as Diffusion of responsibility. They commit stupidities because the herd identity protects them from consequences and from taking responsibility of their actions. This is the vaunted herd intelligence. Humans want to be members. They want to be accepted. They want to be part of the herd. They will do anything to conform to the norms of the herd. And once they see someone jumping, they will follow the norm and jump.
The only ones who would not jump are those known as “cranks”, “weirdos”, “odd types” or “outsiders”. Those who either avoid the natural herd instincts of the normie humans - or those who have been ousted off the herd for a reason or other. They usually are people who go their own way but they usually too are people who you would not like to have your neighbor." *
I don't know...I seem to get along with all my neighbors, except of course, for those oddball weirdos across the street, hopping around on one foot, with a pancake on their head...and of course, dutifully wearing some colorful, but cute face mask. "SIMON SAYS!!! Just kidding".
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