Alex Rosenberg has been in conversation with Rory Sutherland, (An adman by profession: he’s vice chairman at Ogilvy). Sutherland says that humans are largely a pack animals; we tend to do what others are doing. This is related to our tendencies toward risk mitigation. By blending in, we make it less likely that something terrible will happen to us (whether in the jungle or in the workplace).
As a consequence, we are highly attuned to social cues. If a lot of other people are doing something, we assume it can’t be too big of a mistake. In fact, this assumption generally holds water.
When Alex Rosenberg would tell his mother that he did something because everyone else was doing it, she would ask him, ‘If everyone else was jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge, would you?’
Sutherland means its easier to follow the herd. And if everyone else is making a mistake, well, you don’t feel bad if you are part of the herd. The pressure of ‘Not jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge can be too hard unless you have the support and have decided to think through what is in front of you.
If you answer “No” to jumping off the bridge, we probably have a good fit.