Herd instinct

Man (more precisely Homo Sapiens) is a social being, however, as, basically, other kinds of primates. It seems that we are so far away from them in the process of evolution, the construction of various civilizations, the accumulation of collective knowledge and values, including spiritual and moral ones.

However, not in all its manifestations we are radically different from other primates, which, in general, is normal. It is not necessary to deny your own social and biological organization (and, moreover, to fight it), it is stupid and harmful.

Among the various phenomena of collective behavior of people, there is also such an ambiguous one as the herd instinct . This interesting social phenomenon was studied by different sciences, in different fields of knowledge, from different points of view and positions.

What is a herd instinct?

The everyday worldly representation of the average cultural man about the herd feeling in people is mostly negative, which, in fact, is also a manifestation of herdness. The bulk of people do not need to have their opinion on the subject or a real confirmation of anything, they have enough opinion expressed by several authoritative persons. Such a state of minds in the society and various socio-cultural groups (including subcultural and countercultural groups) are actively used by the media, advertising, political technologies, public leaders of a particular type and level.

Here, some psychologists said, that herd instinct is bad, well, everyone believed it, not really thinking about it.

Of course, to repeat and broadcast someone's thoughts, not having their own, for some people it is more convenient. But not always.

It should be noted that there are complex manifestations of herdness in people who can not be assessed unequivocally.

What are the "pluses"?

Of course, the excited state of the crowd (in which it acts as a single organism) should be considered the extreme manifestation of the herd instinct, as the biopsychosis song of the same name says, is very talented, by the way.

However, in the boards of herdness, in some cases and situations, a pragmatic-positive component can also be identified. For example, most likely, you (and most other normal people) will not go along the mountain road, if experts warned about the possibility of convergence of avalanches.

If we think about it, we will understand that sometimes herd instinct helps people survive and perform life-saving and socially justified actions. Alas, such actions can not always be considered moral. It is important to have a "cold" mind, as well as a sense of independence and clear moral guidelines.