Man is remarkable for an enigma: He has an infinite capacity to understand all the possible knowledge in the world, but most of the times, he chooses to stick to whatever he has and does not strive to improve upon his imperfect knowledge.
Some time ago I was reading a weblog on "Herd Mentality". This is a remarkable phenomenon; though it is all-pervading in the human race, still I have never been able to come to terms with it. I still cannot reconcile with the fact that I should do something just because 'somebody else is doing that'.
Man always seeks to stay within a comfort zone. This ensures that he does not explore the unknown or walk the untrodden way. The man who strives to be different is characterized as a 'loner' or 'uncool' or something like that. Never has Creation made two identical people; there is no need for us to imitate anybody.
But when one sees a large group behaving in an eerily identical manner, he gets intimidated and begins to think that if he does not conform to that group's behaviour, he will have to shift out of his comfort zone. Most of us are reluctant to do that; for doing that means we must take a risk; but we must not forget the fundamental law of statistics: higher the risk, higher the probability of return.
All the great men who have lived in our world were men who did not conform to this herd mentality. They achieved precisely because they chose to go the unknown way, and hence were toughened by the ravages of risk-taking. Going by the herd mentality will do us no harm; but it will do us no good either.
Do we have a choice? For, in most situations, it will seem that we must do the same thing others are doing; for that will seem to be the right way. But we must never forget the teachings of great philosophers. Some of their tenets have been:
Some time ago I was reading a weblog on "Herd Mentality". This is a remarkable phenomenon; though it is all-pervading in the human race, still I have never been able to come to terms with it. I still cannot reconcile with the fact that I should do something just because 'somebody else is doing that'.
Man always seeks to stay within a comfort zone. This ensures that he does not explore the unknown or walk the untrodden way. The man who strives to be different is characterized as a 'loner' or 'uncool' or something like that. Never has Creation made two identical people; there is no need for us to imitate anybody.
But when one sees a large group behaving in an eerily identical manner, he gets intimidated and begins to think that if he does not conform to that group's behaviour, he will have to shift out of his comfort zone. Most of us are reluctant to do that; for doing that means we must take a risk; but we must not forget the fundamental law of statistics: higher the risk, higher the probability of return.
All the great men who have lived in our world were men who did not conform to this herd mentality. They achieved precisely because they chose to go the unknown way, and hence were toughened by the ravages of risk-taking. Going by the herd mentality will do us no harm; but it will do us no good either.
Do we have a choice? For, in most situations, it will seem that we must do the same thing others are doing; for that will seem to be the right way. But we must never forget the teachings of great philosophers. Some of their tenets have been:
- Don't do just because someone else has been doing.
- Don't do anything without a sound reason; if it doesn't have any reason, it probably should not be done at all.
- Don't do things that will cause harm to others.
- Don't do things that will cause harm to yourself.
- Don't do things that satisfy your animal instincts while they deaden your soul.
- Don't keep company whose nature you abhor. Part ways when you know you are incompatible.
Remember, rivers always take the path of least resistance, and end up being around two to three times longer than the distance between the source and the mouth. The same thing applies to mankind; it may be the least path of resistance to do what others are doing, but it will be painful for him in the times to come.
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Your thoughts are largely true. However, there can be a flipside to it. There are people who just do things differently only because others are not doing it. In this case, being different for the sake of it does'nt do any good either. Also, a person who comes to a decision after careful considerations for other options, might incidentally lead him to one that others too follow. Here, it might be unwise to brand that as herd mentality. SO, I guess it boils down to the fact that one should weigh the pros and cons of each option available to us, irrespective of whether our decision is the one the world follows or if its something very different.
ReplyDelete@AP
ReplyDeleteWhat you are saying is right in most of the situations. But man need not be taught to deal with normal situations; nor he needs to be taught on how to do the same way as others are doing. It is in exceptional circumstances that one needs to deal with the unknown; at times like those, one must not be guided by what others are doing, nor must he be guided by existing notions of right and wrong.
The point is, all great men achieved things by doing things differently, even though the existing path may have been right. So, if
one wants to attain success in his endeavour, he has to at least think differently if not act differently. He must not do "JUST BECAUSE" others are doing the same thing.