this post was submitted on 22 Oct 2026
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We are social animals. When the herd exhibits general acceptance it triggers something in our brains to do the same. It is why billionaires are funding data centers to flood social media with the opinions and leans they want the public to have.
I can’t remember the researcher name, but among the many studies on this topic there have been a swath done in public waiting rooms with confederates (the name given to actors working for researchers). This is a reproduced experiment.
Waiting room. Smoke starts to trickle out of the ventilation system. How long til someone leaves? Turns out, it’s more likely for the room to clear faster if the confederate gets up sooner and leaves. Then the standard cascade effect happens as the herd takes the hint and everyone leaves. In some cases, it gets to the point where the room becomes hazy and people don’t leave til the confederate initiates.
None of life is a single variable scenario, but it’s worth digging into the variables known to influence us as people.
Learned helplessness is another item I believe is more relevant today than at the time of the now illegal, though famous, experiments performed on dogs.
Everyone else is working these jobs, so it must be ok.