Blog launch

This is the start of a new venture - to catalog some of the insane things humans do collectively.

The terms for group thinking are varied. Some say humans are sheeple-flowing with no obvious leadership while others claim people are subject to mind viruses or memes. Movies and the media frequently feature schizophrenics in depictions of strange behavior, but the general population is as collectively crazy as any madman. Some of the nutsy things people have done range from the tragic such as the Crusades, to the trivial such as the rush to buy furbees, "Cabbage Patch" dolls or "Tickle Me Elmo's". Collective thinking can be seen in the popularity of tunes, ideas, catch-phrases, clothes fashions, diets, jokes, political and religious thought, regional accents, even styles of walking.

People are easily panicked. The Great Toilet Paper Shortage occurred in 1973 after Johnny Carson made a joke that there was an acute shortage of toilet paper in the United States. The next morning, 20 million viewers bought up all the toilet paper they could find so that by noon that day, most stores were out of toilet paper. Herd Instinct is a term used in the investing world to describe irrational buying or selling by large blocks of people.

Groups seem to enjoy paranoia. Christian fundamentalist belief in the coming apocalypse and the Rapture would require a prescription for anti-psychotics if it was observed in an individual. Recall all the survivalist gear sold for y2k. Insurance companies prey on this principle.

Humans want others to think like them, although more often than not, they are not thinking for themselves. Car salesman and police interrogators both know that copying actions and speech patterns of their subject ingratiates themselves with the target. It seems that the main thrust of most organizations, religions and political groups is recruitment of more members more than it is social improvement.