Why is is that people seem to lose all sense initiative when they are in a large crowd of people?

A large crowd of people coming out of a building invariably follow each other like sheep and when they get to the exit they all file out together. This in itself is of no notable interest. But where ever there are double doors, the people still file out, squeezing out though one open door. Very few people show the initiative to open the second door.

What is is about large crowds that dumbs people down? At this point it would be easy to point out that football crowds are particularly susceptible to this dumbing down. They simply cease to be individuals. It's as though being part of a crowd makes it convenient to stop thinking.

Maybe it's 'go with the flow'?

You can bet somebody will join the link just to see if someone's giving away sumit free > :loopy: <

I wonder if humans have some sort of 'flocking' instinct.

It often manifests itself on trains, in restaurants, etc. where you sit in a fairly empty part and soon people start clustering around you.

Other people I know have commented on this to me - there are many simple biological systems that exhibit 'clustering' and self organising, so maybe it's something like that? Pheromones?

Joe

then when they get too close you feel like saying flock off.

as for closeness, the comfortable distance for Western Europeans is roughly 18cm before they feel threatened.

we are gregarious creatures and copyists.

people like to stick together and we are generally dumb (not mindful) either alone or in a group IMO