[Previous entry: "Video games are biologically addictive"] [Next entry: "People vote for people who look like them"]

02/19/2008: "People flock just like sheep"

Results from a study at the University of Leeds show that it takes a minority of just five per cent to influence a crowd's direction -- and that the other 95 per cent follow without realising it.

The findings could have major implications for directing the flow of large crowds, in particular in disaster scenarios, where verbal communication may be difficult. "There are many situations where this information could be used to good effect," says Professor Jens Krause of the University's Faculty of Biological Sciences. "At one extreme, it could be used to inform emergency planning strategies and at the other, it could be useful in organising pedestrian flow in busy areas."

[ This alone should invalidate democracy and consumerism. ]

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080214114517.htm