Also, the author says: "They don’t lead other sheep or form leadership structures like a pack because they don’t care about other sheep. Every sheep lives in a

Also, the author says: "They don’t lead other sheep or form leadership structures like a pack because they don’t care about other sheep. Every sheep lives in a universe of One, which makes them just about the most non-obedient creature around." This is incorrect. Sheep have a social structure. In every flock there is a head ewe. The head ewe decides when to leave the barn, where to go in the pasture, and when to head back for the night. There is a process for leaving the barn in the morning. The head ewe goes in front. Everyone else follows behind in more-or-less single file. If there is a ram in the flock, then he is last. The head ewe walks for a few steps, stops, looks around, sniffs the air, and everyone behind her patiently waits. Then a few steps more. It is a ten-minute process for my sheep to get from the barn to their favorite tree. This does not invalidate the greater point that the author is making: there is, very definitely, a flock psychology. Sheep are not inclined to put themselves in danger to help one another, unless it's one of the ewe's lambs who is in danger: if that's the case, she will go to her death to stand down a wolf. And there's a truism among shepherds that the sheepdog knows to stay out of the way of a ewe and her lamb lest the dog get butted, hard. But in general, it doesn't make evolutionary sense for sheep to try to fight wolves. They lose. But I suppose what I'm saying here is that, even within human flock psychology, there is room for people to help each other. Your enlightened self interest, at the very least, says that you shouldn't go out of your way to screw people over. You should alert others to dangers you see. You should follow the one with a better nose and more experience. You can't eat all of the grain yourself, so you might as well share it with others. A low bar, I know, but one we often fail to clear nonetheless.