Men Go Mad In Herds
Men...think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one.
- Charles Mackay, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds [Google Books or download in full at Project Gutenberg] (Photo: tifotter)
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This explains "mob mentality," where seemingly normal people emboldened by the fact that they can't be individually singled out, go nuts and loot and riot.
See Lakers championship win celebration.
A herd has two speeds, grazing and stampeding
FYI, the Walmart employee that was trampled at Christmas.
Well, I guess this also explains a lot about the Pride parade, too. (Which is to say, this explains why it is made of AWESOME!)
Edwards: Why the big secret? People are smart. They can handle it.
Kay: A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it.
- Men In Black
I never thought MIB would be referenced in a philosophical debate. Congratulations.
Now I am creeped out by the thought of tiny gummi animals roaming in herds through the great fields of world, being blugeoned before thrown into plastic bags and containers to be carted to the new world and sold to savages who devore them whole, or worse yet, bit the heads off first.
I can't recommend that book enough. It's fantastic. Actually the parts on business are kind of dull compared to the rest. If you like reading about alchemists or witch-hunts, it's a hoot.
Men go mad in herds, which is why we go to the restroom by ourselves!
@Jeremy82465: The reminds me of an animated short I saw featuring two warring tribes of candy. The winning tribe took the losers back to their village and packaged them into bags and boxes. Then the camera zooms out and you see the outside of a candy machines, featuring the likenesses of the candy tribes. I'd love to find it again.
I've always been partial to Sting's rewrite: "Men go crazy in congregations; they only get better one by one."
An excellent book, I highly recommend. I think it can be found for free on project Gutenberg.
Mmm...gummy bears.