There’s a book called Atomic Habits by James Clear! Of course it is a best seller and then some!
In one section he describes an experiment where a GUY is asked which line is short or long! He is not the only one though, there are two others with him! Like you know! Two is a company but three is a crowd! But that is not the point here! At least not the complete point! This is because the crowd goes on increasing!
So unknown to him the other participants in the study were actors! Now the GUY can see that the line which he thinks is short is actually short! He knows that he is right! But over a period when others consistently tell the WRONG answer, he starts to get doubts or just goes with the flow!
They other participants who are actors are all told to tell the wrong answer purposefully!
So for a while if the participants number is less then the GUY sticks to his answer! As the number of actors increases and they all tell the wrong answer, the GUY finally goes with the crowd albeit reluctantly!
Thats crowd mentality!
You would rather be wrong with the crowd or be right and alone!
In the novel James Clear frequently explores how the crowd mentality (or herd mentality) shapes individual human behavior. He frames it not as a personal flaw, but as a powerful, ancient biological mechanism!
The summary is that “Most days, we’d rather be wrong with the crowd than be right by ourselves.”
When you are right you are usually alone!
The Reward of Belonging is the chief issue here since human evolution prioritized social acceptance over absolute truth. In early human history, being separated from the tribe meant death. Because of this, our brains evolved to view social isolation as a major threat!
The desire to fit in is often stronger than the desire to achieve a goal or find the truth. Clear writes that “the reward of belonging to the tribe and being accepted is often greater than the reward of winning an argument, looking smart, or finding truth.”
Clear explains that we do not blindly follow just anyone. We naturally experience crowd mentality by imitating the habits of three specific groups!
We tend to absorb the habits of those around us—family, friends, and coworkers. If your friends eat healthily, you are more likely to adapt to that standard!
If a behavior is normal for the majority, we adopt it to avoid standing out or looking foolish! We also follow this behaviour if it is followed by the Powerful!
We mimic the habits of successful, high-status individuals (celebrities, CEOs, experts) because we desire the status and power they possess!
So now you know what is crowd mentality! Do not worry! Clear has a CLEAR way of using this for your benefit! The only catch is that, it will be discussed in another blog!
For now be aware of the crowd mentality without going mental!
Then again sometimes crowd can be right! Like how a whole crowd knows that M S or
Madurai Shanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi was a legend!
Now don’t join the crowd in waiting for the next blog!
Shub ratri!
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