Understanding The Human Herd Mentality
Researchers at Leeds University, led by Prof Jens Krause, performed a series of experiments where volunteers were told to randomly walk around a large hall without talking to each other. A select few were then given more detailed instructions on where to walk. The scientists discovered that people end up blindly following one or two people who appear to know where they’re going.
The published results showed that it only takes 5% of what the scientists called “informed individuals” to influence the direction of a crowd of around 200 people. The remaining 95% follow without even realizing it.
“There are strong parallels with animal grouping behavior,” says Prof Krause, who reported his study with John Dyer in the Animal Behavior Journal. “We’ve all been in situations where we get swept along by the crowd but what’s interesting about this research is that our participants ended up making a consensus decision despite the fact that they weren’t allowed to talk or gesture to one another… In most cases the participants didn’t realize they were being led by others.”
This is excellent example of how the human brain is setup for social life. Even without a top-down organizer or any obvious rules, society just falls into place. Unfortunately, that “follow the herd” mentality isn’t always beneficial. If we’re not fully versed on a subject, we tend to follow the guy who appears to know more than we do. That sort of behavior applies to more than just random walking, we do it in everyday life from picking political candidates to deciding what type of car to buy.
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27 comments
The experiment is probably valid. One of the problems I see in it is that if 190 are walking aimlessly and 10 are on a specific path the easiest way to not run into somebody is to follow the specific path in a group. I would like to see the results of a similar experiments where the directed people are deliberately “run into” each other.
I noticed this some time ago. there are two kinds of people, smart and dumb. smart, maybe 5% dumb maybe 95%
smart who know they’re smart 5% of the 5% smart (they’re the leaders)
smart people who think they’re dumb 95% of the 5% smart (they’re the followers)
dumb people who think they’re smart 95% of the 95% dumb (they are also followers)
dumb people who know they’re dumb 5% of the 95% dumb actively sought out by the leaders, invaluable workers.
the leaders and the workers are the only ones who influenece society, the rest just get in the way.
Hawthorne effect, people are following because they know they are being supervised and are expected to do *something*.
so is this true in school teens like do we choose to follow or are we programed to follow just a ? know u will not right back but if u do i would like to know this i have seen this my self at school,the mall and other places were teens go
Corvettes, Cadillacs, Mustangs, SUV’s , McMansions in the ‘burbs, Breast augmentations, blonds everywhere, fast foods for all, huge V-8 engines in cars, gasoline fuel instead of diesel, flying on a jet plane, holidays in the sun, the ‘Vegas phenomenon”, “try my product, you’ll like it” Holy Shit! you’re right! Next we’ll all be spending time in tanning booths and changing our middle names to Hussein! Explains the downfall of the big three too! One asshole went out and bought a BMW and we thought he knew what he was doing. Fear not, the “Big Three” will fail, one way or another, and we can all follow each other to the unemployment lines, and none of us will know what the Hell we are doing!
This explains the two party system because all big media talks about are the two main parties. So big media which appears to be informed is guiding the rest of us into always choosing ether of the two established parties.
The herd mentality was obvious at one of the schools I’ve attended. There was this one guy who had all these seemingly strong opinions, which caused a whole lot of people to follow him. They looked up to him, bought the same stuff as him and never questioned his opinions.
For us other people he was mostly a dork.
it’s not people that blindly follow each other, it’s sheeple.
Good reason to make sure you are the one who knows.
word
So what happens if the chosen “leader” walks off a cliff? I suppose the rest of the mindless lemmings follow to their doom.
I’m sure this heard mentailty is how Obama won the presidency.
I remember losing points during a job interview for using the term “sheeple” when asked if I thought people would just blindly follow a leader.
I gave Nike shoes as my validation – people spending $100+ for a pair of poorly made, often hideous looking shoes simply because they see famous people wearing them in ads. People want to “fit in”. even the “emo kids” you see around school who are trying so hard to be different, that they are really all just the same.
Granted, a leader needs to be more than a simple sheep herder to be truly effective, but…. you can make a lot of people do things that they normally wouldn’t do. Next time you go to the store with a group of people, all go to walk in the wrong doorway – chances are the people behind you will follow, people have a a natural tendency to want to mimic others – we develop it as infants and it remains throughout life .
I don’t remember the specifics of it, but the Chinese knew full well the science behind “leadership.” When at war with the Japanese, they took all their prisoners in a maximum security holding and observed them, watching to see who the leaders were (it would not always be as obvious as rank). They determined that in a given group, 5% are true leaders–1 in 20. They would remove those from the group and keep them in maximum security. The rest could be detained with minimum guards and waist-high barbed wire. And so, the principle of “sheeple” is completely valid.
“That sort of behavior applies to more than just random walking, we do it in everyday life from picking political candidates to deciding what type of car to buy.”
…….to which deity is chosen.
Nietchez would be proud. Only ‘Slaves’ exist in the society of the 21st century.
Religion.
Remember: You are unique. Just like everyone else.
Yeah, I lost points on my job interview once also after saying “sheeple”. I also said “reptilians” and “world domination” and “the enslaving of mankind”. That was kinda the end of the interview to be honest.
Totally agree with comment number 1, its called a flow. a bit like if you stir a stick in a glass of water, might be very thhin stick but all the water will end going same path or direction if it doesnt have already a flow. All this even thought water as no apparent brain!
i find these study a bit moron, is that the scientist conclusion or the one of the news writer??
Why not ask people to all choose a path instead asking them to walk randomly?? There fooling there results cause they want the answer they proposed first.
[...] This is what’s happening to followers of the herd: “The published results showed that it only takes 5% of what the scientists called “informed individuals” to influence the direction of a crowd of around 200 people. The remaining 95% follow without even realizing it.” (“Understanding The Human Herd Mentality”) [...]
really enjoyed the information and comments. I am 75 and wonder when and if…… ever I was smart and also the times that I might have been be a sheeple (dumb). I can tell you …. Now I don’t really want anyone to respond to that. Not that you could…… I am so proud that I brought three precious children into this world and they have brought altogether seven grandchildren. I just pray I did some other good things and was a leader in some ways that was good for others. If this is not the case.. I am too old to care.
I remember once going to a movie in the middle of the day. When I walked into the theater, I was the only one in there. As other people came in, I realized that they each sat down no more than two seats away from me, in spite of the fact that there were a hundred seats empty to chose from. Herd mentality.
Nobody wants to stand out or lead because they fear becoming first targets. So the sheeple follow the masses to the slaughter house, when they could’ve started the change to their freedoms.
Many people in this topic are talking down on people they classify as dumb and ’sheeple’, yet many of you seem to follow what those above you said, including using the term ’sheeple’ in your post.
Its easy for someone to find holes in the work of another, especially work that they couldn’t do themselves, and then its even easier to agree with those who posted before you. I think before you talk ill of Scientists, or ’sheeple’, you should take a good look at yourself.
Are you the owner of your own business, leader of a club, mayor/governor/president, founder of some group or entity, captain of a sport team, head of a military group, or any other leadership position. The odds are most if not all of those who are talking so negatively are followers themselves…
Good article,you brought out what most of us already knew,well most of us leaders anyway,lol,it’s a joke! I’m not a leader at all,I only have average intelligence,I’m a loner,I don’t give a damn about being a leader nor am I led or misled.Yup,most people would consider me a loser,but boy am I happy!
It might just be that you were sitting where the really good seats were.
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