I was watching one of those TED talks the other night. It was this mathematician who was talking about “swarm theory.”
Maybe you’ve seen some videos, or some real life “swarms” of birds. When there’s a whole bunch of them, it looks pretty cool. Almost like it’s one giant organism.
The guy was saying that each individual has some pretty simple “rules” that are programmed into it. Namely, stay a certain distance from it’s neighbors, mostly.
That way, when all the guys around you move, you just move along with them.
Biologists who study ant colonies and bee swarms tell us they collectively act like a single organism. Some say that our trillions of cells in our body can also be thought of a “swarm” of organisms that also behave congruently.
Of course, groups of people are different, right?
After all, we all have our own individual minds, thoughts, intentions. We’d never mindlessly follow the crowd, without thinking, right?
Some say that all our ideas about conscious thought, independent thinking and individuality are grossly exaggerated.
We are no more than a massive collection of cells in a larger “group” or “swarm” that is controlled by forces beyond our comprehension.
Of course, if you’ve ever made a decision against the crowd, you know this is bunk.
Often times, it’s much better to “zig” when everybody else is “zagging.”
Knowing when is crucial.
That’s why having your OWN criteria, separate from any group programming is crucial.
Only then can you put these internal triggers to work in ways that nobody can imagine.
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