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> One scholar has asked why, if crowds are so suggestible, they don't disperse when asked to do so by an authority figure. Huh? Isn't that just further justifi
by johnfn 17y ago
> One scholar has asked why, if crowds are so suggestible, they don't disperse when asked to do so by an authority figure.
Huh? Isn't that just further justification for the suggestibility of crowds? I would argue that each person sticks together in a crowd because they see that everyone else is sticking together.
On the other hand, I think that an easy way to see crowd suggestibility is seeing people do the wave.
- crux 17y agoI think The Wave is actually a perfect counter example. People in crowds don't tend do do the Wave because they have lost their agency. I think most of them, acting rationally, think it's a very cool phenomenon and take advantage as a group of a setting that lets large amounts of people coordinate their efforts together.
- johnfn 17y agoInteresting point. I approached the idea of suggestibility a little differently, from the perspective of peer pressure and following the crowd. I don't think I could think of a counterexample other than my own thoughts (which say it would be awkward to sit down while everyone else is doing the wave).