Friday, February 06, 2009

It's easier than you think.

How to control a herd of humans

Scott Wiltermuth of Stanford University in California and colleagues have found that activities performed in unison, such as marching or dancing, increase loyalty to the group. "It makes us feel as though we're part of a larger entity, so we see the group's welfare as being as important as our own," he says.

3 comments:

platts42 said...

That's why it's important to march to beat of your own drummer. Ego protection, unless you do it deliberately.

Bruce Duensing said...

This is also true in what Gregory Bateson observed, that what we believe translates into behavior.Belief seems to arise from sociological feedback from repetition, that is to say if you say something often enough, it somehow transits into a cultural truism. This to my way of thinking is a overlooked facet of research in the UFO phenomenon.

platts42 said...

On a side note: I spent 7 years as a Dead Head. Going to shows (lots of dancing), talking about the band like they were friends with friends etc.

After Jerry died and I stopped attending shows and hanging out with other Deadheads, I slowly began to realize that the Dead sucked in that they played in different keys, different tempos, and sang like dying cats.