

Myths of Crowd Psychology - j_baker
http://www.spring.org.uk/2008/08/7-myths-of-crowd-psychology.php

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johnfn
> 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.

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crux
I 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.

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johnfn
Interesting 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).

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ellyagg
Seems like crowds trample folks at Walmart during Christmas season pretty
often.

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diN0bot
lacks sources

