Do you have the will to resist?
Humans are nasty vile creatures when put in large groups and are capable of unspeakable atrocities in certain situations. Even someone who can be considered good, moral, and upstanding can be directed toward evil in the blink of an eye. It's like a match to gasoline.
For a person to stand up, resist groupthink, and take a stand against things that are hateful, cruel and violent takes an enormous amount of will power and a deep seated morality based on inner strength rather than fairy tales.
Mob mentality is a powerful force. It is a vestigial leftover from our evolutionary past. In an instant it can wash over ones mind, erase a lifetime of socialization and make normally independent humans exhibit herd behavior.
Riots, gang rapes, mass murders, genocide, are all committed under the influence of this lower mind. Honestly, I believe many do not have the strength of mind to resist being controlled in this way.
I've seen riots first hand. It's an ugly scene; faces of friends, neighbors and other normal folks transformed into mindless, destructive monsters in a mere instant.
Less than moral leaders and seditionists bank on this predictable reaction in people and have often used it to their advantage to cause chaos, murder their enemies and gain power.
Do you have the will to resist?
I hope we never have to find out.
posted by Bill Rowland @ July 17, 2007
36 Comments
36 Comments:
Oh dear! That's not the best way to start the day [or maybe it is?]
I think the 'mob rule mentality' is the flip side of the 'bystander' phenomenon = when someone is in trouble / has had an accident and everyone just stands around watching and not helping.
Cheers
Oh boy. This is a touchy subject here isnt it?? Well for starters I hate when I hear about people ganging up on an innocent person. I mean we hear about those gang murders with the gays and so forth. I have a few gay friends so it hurts to hear about that really. Anyway it sucks to be in the peer pressure of these things. When I was in high school once this girl challenged me to fight her but I wouldnt and the whole school was surrounding us basically so I couldnt just walk away but we just kept walking in circles until a teacher came out to see what was going on. It sucked royally.. but people follow whose ever in the lead. I cant and could never do it. I would be more likely to be the one to walk away.
Great post. This is the kind of thing I always think of when someone sniffs at the Holocaust or what's going on in the eastern Congo and announces that they would never be that cruel.
I think we all have it in us to be that cruel and it pays to be wary.
Ouch! I agree...no one wins a fight!
Flyinfox_SATX
While loving my job at the police station. Unfortunatly I get at least one call a day regarding this. 2 people in a verbal argument and suddenly it's a mob brawl.
I have to keep telling myself. Stupid people are job security.
I hope so too, Hammer.
Groupthink comes up with some of the most irresponsible, far-reaching nonsense...unfortunately it lasts a long time and impacts a lot of people. If you don't actually see it happening, it's hard to believe that it exists but it does.
The mob thing is almost too frightening to think about.
That is so not fun!
That was a thought provoking post hammer, it's Sad but true. Actually I've been in a few instances where the mob mentality was being displayed and in both cases I didn't follow the crowd. Actually one time I stood up against the crowd to protect someone and nearly got my own @ss kicked.
I've seen the wave of mob mentality take hold.... once in college at a "demostation" after the Shah fell....and several times at high school sporting events...
I like to think I have the will to resist. I tend to be an outsider/loner, being as I don't go along and do what the other person is doing. My mom called it leading, she said to be a leader not a follower. Rules I try to instill in my child. Make your own path, don't tread in on the groups road.
I have often stood up to what I think is mob mentality, both online and in real life. I don't always win over the crowd, but I have to give it my best shot.
I sincerely hope I'd have enough moral conviction not to participate. That was an excellent and thought-provoking post, Hams. Well done. That pic disturbs me.
I have never understood riots but have never been around one.
When it all boils down to the most basic elements, an individual has the power of choice but a group has the power of influence. Do you have the fortitude to stand up for your opinion as an individual against the group?
I'm not ever going to be like that.
mcewen: They are different but probably stem from the same desire to follow a crowd and not act individually.
tweety: I'm glad you were able to outsmart the highschool bullies that takes guts.
queen of dysfunction: I agree completely. These holocost deniers and genocide ignorers will be the next to perpetrate such a horrific act.
flyinfox: Fighting for a reason may me ok but when it's done mindlessly is when we have to watch out.
Alekx: Buisness is booming it seems.
Bridget: Groupthink can manifest itself in non violent but just as destructive ways,,the challenger incident is a prime example.
Jenny: Indeed
Goldbloom: me too, I hope to never see it again.
Katherine: Major political upheavals and sporting events seem to trigger such things. It just takes a couple of drunken lowlifes to get the ball rolling.
Burfica: I'm glad to hear it. It takes leaders to diffuse and disarm these situations as well.
minijonb: It's all we can do. I don't always win but speaking up against wrongdoing is always the right thing to do.
Barista: Thanks, that pic is of the recent queensland riots in Austrailia.
snowmanpoop: They are hard to understand. they are almost like a cloud of stupid gas that infects an area.
Sornie: precisely, I'm glad to hear so many here in the comments recognize what I'm talking about.
carrie: I'm pleased to hear it :)
It might be frightening or dangerous to stand up to a mob -it might just be better to escape and call for help. I for one have never been a part of a crowd - I hate sports crowds for example all baying and shouting for somethingor another...
Hammer, totally agree. I was thinking of how government programs/policies appear to be fashioned (at least in these parts), how big industry operates (think Corvair, Pinto, Firestone tires, Salem witch hunts, Bophal)....oh man it's everywhere.
Loved this post. The looks on the peoples' faces in the pic are absolutely frightening.
I've pretty much come to the conclusion that humans are the stupidest animal on earth, even though we don't get that ourselves. We mess with everything and see the consequences of nothing. Asshats, we are.
Human behavior is preposterous in so many ways. I want to distance myself from it - to believe I'm not one of THOSE.
My daughter witnessed an extremely violent union riot when she was 12. That experience changed her view of humanity forever. :(
Mob rule is frightening!
All it is is positive reinforcement coming from all directions. Think of your teacher giving you a gold star for the day when you were six, then multiply that by 10,000. We all want to be part of something larger, a cause that's bigger than us and one that can outlive our mortal lives. Even in the electronic age, there's nothing like being surrounded by people who are of like mind about something, and that rush is what provides momentum.
I'm sure culture and conditioning have a hand in what happens, and it's not all superseded. That's why in one country when a referee blows a call, all that happens is everyone throwing their garbage on the field, while in another country they rip up the seats, and send a party to kill the ref.
We don't need a large group to commit atrocities - Dahmer and Gacy are two examples of that. And people can get all hopped up in a passionate fury about a subject and not have it go violent. Look up "Baltic Way" where 2 million people in the Baltics in 1989 formed a peaceful human chain in a blow for Baltic independence from the USSR. And Polish Solidarity movements in 1982.
Things like riots and genocides aren't as much spontaneous events as much as when a group that's been socialized for years to a) be pissed off at someone and b) hold it in because they're like Custer at Little Big Horn realize at some critical moment that all of a sudden, they have a critical mass of people to actually pull it off this time. Or an event triggers an outpouring from a mass of people who simultaneously said "I took all I can take, and can't take no more." The Hutus were seething with resentment at the Tutsi ruling minority for years before they decided to chop up a half million of them.
I used to participate in Life Chain which was a silent chain of people bearing silent non-violent witness against abortion. The angry, near violent outbursts came not from the group, but from time to time from lone individuals at the stoic group. Now there's a turnabout.
Oy, Hammer, what ugliness have you seen?
I agree with the entire post, and I think I would have been one of the people to sniff and say "Not me, I'm not a sheep" before a nasty fight erupted in my high school. Two girls were having a you-took-my-man fight, and when they rallied their "armies" of friends we suddenly had a riot going on in our trophy hall. The scary thing was that one of the "captains" was a girl I knew as a classmate. I couldn't figure out why all of her rationality suddenly disappeared in this fight.
I wasn't physically present at the fight, being locked in a classroom on the next floor, but the thought of seeing the who of her disappear and leave only the what - or seeing the same thing happen to every girl in that fight - was truly terrifying.
Now? I honestly don't know what I would do. But I'll try to resist that craziness, or at least stay out of its way.
-ISU Tinkerer
Hammer, ya gotta check this poster out. It totally clues into your mood...http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/1202944605015219160iAzRza
Years ago in Denver, I went to a protest- it was MLK Jr. Day and the Klan wanted to do something downtown (and apparently had to bus their people in to make it happen). Hordes of us went down to shout at them and all, and I overslept and by they time I got there I was WAY too far away to see much, and NO WAY could I be heard. I decided to go home and get more sleep and a guy right next to me produced a cue ball from somewhere and threw it at the Klan people from easily 300' out. I was amazed by a few things- 1.) He brought and threw a cue ball- those things are pricey and who would have thought of that? 2.) That his plan involved hucking a cue ball. and 3.) That he had the arm to pull it off. Seriously- the guy could have played major league outfield. Amazing shot. The thing sailed clear into the target zone, but there was so much bedlam in the first place (what with the brave Klansmen trying to high tail it out of there with their scalps attached) that the effect could not be determined.
Why do I bring this up? Because you can still be a part of an angry mob, but maintain your individuality.
mutley: escaping is often the wisest thing to do.
bridget: Excellent examples. When will these people in industry grow a brain I'm thinking Enron is another example.
choochoo: we have intelligence and can make cool stuff but many are still bound to their animal nature.
phlegmy: I try to stay out of it myself. It's relly disheartening.
tshsmom: oddly enough the last one I witnessed was the teamsters rioting in 1997. People I had known for years were doing atrocious things.
MTS: You raise good points and excellent examples. Built up resentment and frustration can explode if given the right catalyst. I guess what I'm getting at is at what point does the mind break to where a man with a family can hack up other peoples babies with a machete. I hope to never find out.
ISU: glad to hear you are able to resist, I've had close friends totally wig out and go shark eyes when in a grouthink scenario. Very scary.
Bridget: lol exactly!
Stucco: I see your point. I would suspect that a premeditated cueball fling wouldn't exactly qualify as mob mentality. Sounds like you guys were doing a public service and didn't burn buildings, overturn cars or kill anyone.
I used to stand off, way off, and watch the stupid SDS protest at the University of Tennessee back in the early 70's. I was different, had been to Vietnam and they were young and stupid, and mostly lead by radicals from New Jersey!
I hated them all.
I do, because I walk away.
I've seena riot happen firsthand, whn I was dating the LAPD S.W.A.T. Lt. before th UCLA basketball championships in Westwood Village maybe 12 years ago...
It went from normally and rowdy to terrifying and dangerous in literally 30 second.
It was horrible, and took the cops a good three hours to clear the streets.
So when people say, "That was a riot!", it's a bad thing?
many years ago I taught supervision and management to young USAF non-coms and basic group dynamics was part of the instruction block.
One analogy that I used was a comparison of humans to a herd of cattle. Humans are a lot like such a herd. 95 out of a 100 in the herd can be led with a promise of something to eat, four can be driven to the feed lot, and one will be a maverick that goes to the butcher shop early.
95 out of a 100 humans will follow a dynamic leader. Four of them may or may not and there is always that one who will follow no one. And sometimes it is that one who refuses to follow who is the wisest of the lot.
I've never been a joiner, so I think I'm safe from mob mentality. This reminds me of a horrible incident I read about in my newspaper yesterday that happened here-
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1865807/posts?page=1a 15-year-old boy backed up by a group of his friends accosted his 18-year old, 8-months pregnant (by him) ex-girlfriend; someone in the group ripped her 1-year old kid from her arms, and he stomped and kicked her belly. The baby died of a skull fracture. I wonder if he'd have had the nerve to do that if he hadn't had his friends for backup?
What's happening to our society?
That link I posted had conflicting information than what I read in the paper. Here's the article I read:
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070716/NEWS01/307160029/-1/all
mushy: From what I hear 60's and 70's protests often were just a bunch of brainwashed kids under control of a couple of ringleaders.Not all protests are bad but we always have to look at the money behind them.
Annie: what is it about sports that makes people want to overtuen cars, torch buildings and start riots? Glad you got out of there ok.
Diesel As long as they keep laughing...
GuyK: That is a great analogy, I have always thought of myself as the odd man out. I've managed to stay out of the slaughterhouse so far ;)
Janet: That kid is sick, and for the others to help him? They all need to go for a ride on old sparky.
Hey hammer, get with the program, or else!!
Excellent sentiment. Yep, never been much of a follower of groups. Always had a thing for finding individuals who I thought could teach me something, but usually find myself moving on. Individuality is the thing. Figure out who you are and do what you feel is right, and you'll be cool. Great post.
Very thought provoking. I would like to think that if I saw someone in trouble I would have the strength to step in and help. Fighting never solves anything. Although it isn't the same, I used to live in a neighbourhood where a gal across the street was getting beat up by her boyfriend. Ev1 just ignored her screams but when I heard them I called 911 (on more than one occasion). Funny thing was..it was ME they all hated for causing trouble NOT the prick ass beating her so often. Nice eh?
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