“Most people can be wrong and, in fact, most people are wrong at any given point in history. We are told there is strength in numbers and wisdom in crowds. The truth is that crowds follow trends because when a new idea comes about, every person in the herd is afraid of being left behind in case this new idea really is powerful, so without proof of its veracity they adopt it and use their new-found status to beat up anyone who hasn’t adopted it. Thus ideas spread like diseases, and usually they are wrong, because in all but a few cases the people dreaming them up aren’t thinking about reality, but how they want to see themselves. ”
— Brett Stevens (via ice and sunfire)Derren Brown
I’m watching ‘The Gameshow’ now. Psychology is so interesting.
The results of The Milgram Experiment are so incredibly interesting yet terrifying when you come to see it play out. It was the same with the ‘Judenrats’ in Poland under Nazi control; and the essential psychological fallacy of humans that collaborate in majority with heinous crimes. I don’t believe in Machiavellian philosophy. It’s just very scary when it seems that innate “human nature” can govern us in such a controlling way. At least seeing the experiment played out in such a way gets people to reconsider their acts in the long run; even though I’m unsure whether people are strong enough to stand up to others when they truly believe something to be wrong.
I’m sure Tumblrians would disagree.
Do you have any advice on how to write a riot? There's going to be one in my story, but I have no idea how to accurately write one, as I have no experience with them. -Anonymous
[By request!]
I was in a riot once. Involved refusing to go to lessons and running round the school. The deputy head fell over and we laughed. That’s Yorkshire for you!
I don’t really know or understand riots, but is normally caused by a few and then explodes.
How about reading up on some riots?
Also watching some riots might be an idea, so you get a sense of the scale and mob mentality.
Does anyone else have any more ideas?
I think research is the best place to start for you. If you need more help or if I haven’t answered your question don’t hesitate to send another ask.
Thanks,
-S
EDIT: C from writeworld found some extra links!
How to start a Movement- This video is about how to start a movement, it basically says that the first follower is what transforms a lone nut into a leader. It’s really interesting and worth a watch!
Thanks C!
If I had to describe the majority of tumblr in two psychological terms.
It would be groupthink and mob mentality.
Episode 8: Doug's Bloody Buddy
This episode begins with a Scooby Doo fantasy.
As Shaggy, Doug leads the gang into the cemetery to find the Bluffington Vampire. One by one, the gang is trapped or kidnapped without Doug noticing. Finally, all alone, Doug walks into a mausoleum, saying they finally found the vampire. Then he turns around to see a monster behind him and he’s surprised by who it is because he’s watched enough Scooby Doo to know the five main characters, but not enough to know he should never be surprised by who it is. Anyway, we don’t see who the monster really is, and Doug says “zoinks” before the fantasy ends.
For the longest time I was trying to figure out why all these “tumblr famus” and then other random blogs have the same posts. At first, using dare I say independed thought and reason, I thought the repetition was the same person. Then I had to remind myself how quickly and easily mediocrity can become the next trend in mob mentality. So I learned to shudder off those *bad* independent thoughts and destroy reason, and finally through a lot of effort and retraining it all came to me at once: I get it!!! That, sadly, all these blogs are not being manned by the same individual: THESE ARE MANY INDIVIDUALS FOLLOWING THE SAME TREND/FORM IN MASSE. *Gasps* Now I feel like I’m looking out upon a sea of stormtroopers ready and waiting for their next commands. Am I next?? Or worse, have I already become a practicer of the dark arts without consciously realizing it, bc I mean, FINALLY I SEE IT NOW!!!
Mob Mentality in the Social Age
Mob mentality has always been with us. My favourite example is from August 2010 when in the wake of the Sarah Payne murder a mob of residents converged on a suspected paedophiles house to forcibly oust the evil woman from their midst…only problem was she was not a paedophile she was a paediatrician, and they didn’t understand the difference.
Now fast forward to 2011 and throw Twitter into the mix, it has been interesting to see how many people joined in the #notw bashing not because a) they had been affected or b) they were actually outraged, but because they saw the hoo-haa and thought they’d join in.
Whats worrying about this is that Twitter is becoming a giant continuous focus group for both politicians and the media. When a metaphorical group of pitchfork baring Tw-okels turn up in your news feed real decisions are being made about policies and companies that effect real peoples lives.
Rupert Murdoch is an aggressive and quite ruthless business-man of whom I (and you) truly know very little. But in the last few days I’ve seen him compared to Hitler, a Bond Villain and Lord Voldermort with News Corp cast as the Evil Empire. My sense of perspective says some people are wildly running away with this and taking us all with them.
You may well think that thus far by-and-large the right people have been given the right treatment, but mark my words, someday soon a social media equivalent of the paediatrician story will happen and it wont be pretty.
