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+--- Thread: Psychology with Arthur: Herd mentality (/showthread.php?tid=66962)
Psychology with Arthur: Herd mentality - Snak5 - 09-30-2011
So, here I am, again, annoying the crap out of you, with my theories, accusations, sceptisism and general troll-like behaviour, right?
Well, think again. How many of you actually believe it? And how many of you are influenced by opinions of majority or respected individuals, instead of creating and shaping your own opinion?
Statistically, ,ore common answer would be "Yes, I believed others and took their perception" instead of "That is my own opinion, not affected by others".
And that is not bad in general, since it is a sign of human evolution, where we are capable of creating opinion out of experience of others.
However, Homo Sapiens as a specie, is the only specie currently known to exist, that is destroying own kind, not to survive, but to gain something.
Wild animals are fighting each other for territory, food, home, females (most of species) [Though homesexuality is common in wild nature too, exactly for the reason of lack of females/males, that sexual instincts could be fulfilles, just for general education, ladies and gentlemen].
So, how does this Herd Mentality I am talking about reflects on community (in general, not specifically to this) and what examples could prove it (from this community, to show that it is universally found)?
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First of all, there are always people we respect more. There is often a thought, that what most thinks, should be true. But, we rarely see reason to make sure what we are trying to take over from others are true, with grounds, not just some missplaced jokes, incorrect statements. And here lies (?) (as in "lies" on the floor") problem, when our conscious accepts something as hard evidenced fact, because we think it is true or we wish to believe that it is true.
For example, I repeated "4.86 is a myth" over and over ago. Then seeked if there are more taking over this phrase. And there were. While I am not into deep science of psychology, that is simple evidence based on observations.
Let's see how words "lolwhuts" and variations are used. They are used in degratory meaning, which is negatively affecting the opinion. And what can we see now? People are complaining about less experienced players, that might be disregarding set rules and roleplay gudielines, cares for only themselves etc.
But, repeating it over and over again, seeing this word used, these statements made only grinds it into peoples' mind, and they might start believing it. Which leads only to more complaints, anger and forms a closed circle, which expands and rarely can be stopped.
Let's see into the fact 4.86's version is falling back from expected release day, and how people are more bored and bored of Discovery mod. But going on the forums, complaining about it, being somehow disappointed, because a free game, where unpaid developers are not in line with developing is simply not what it is supposed to be.
Again, all this creates another circle, where people are starting to believe what appears often, what comes from people they might respect and trust more. And in the end, we only see these thread more often, which makes us think the same.
In the end, it is simple psychology. We follow the trends, that are dictated by something more, better, bigger than us. Herd Mentality's principles are used in stock markets, fashion trends, advertisment business to gain profits, influence etc.
It is known fact for people who are interested in it, accepted in general, sicn there is nothing that can prevent it, abused for the factors I just mentioned above.
Since I am not good with final conclusions somehow, lack skills to step from main subject into our community's problem, I will simply say:
Please, stop following others, have your own opinions, behave as independent people, who can live on their own, who can make their minds without interference from 3rd parties.
We are responsible for the ongoing community's image. If we create negative image, that we always complain, compete, get angry over small details, we will see such instances only more often.
To put a stop to this, we must become those "lolwhuts" and, while still following rules and guidelines, be ourselves, and think as we, ourselves, want to.
Psychology with Arthur: Herd mentality - jammi - 09-30-2011
To flip this on it's head, I could accuse you of selection bias too. You're only reporting negative aspects of your subject, resulting in a generally grim and gloomy outlook.
Oh, and your 'lolwut' example. I personally hate the word and don't use it, however, you made it sound like people used the word, then negative thoughts and complaints stemmed from the fact the word was an ingrained part of the community. The bitching about new players is as old as Discovery and online gaming. The term lolwut derived from the complaints, not the other way around.
As for herd mentality, it has its uses. Safety in number, rapid propagation of ideas... player factions.
In any case, psychology on an online forum generally tends to lead towards much lulz and facepalming. People don't act like real people on the internet. Anonymity does something to people's head. Don't expect them to comply to whatever it was you were taught in class. Most people also have an attention span shorter than a kid with ADHD on crack when it comes to this sort of thread.
You were hardly the first to say ".86 is a myth" either. That just comes from the cynicism of the internet and the fact the Devs haven't released anything for 2 years.
/Goes to bother some Zoners.
Psychology with Arthur: Herd mentality - CzeReptile - 09-30-2011
so, .86 soon?
Id help with the dev work, but seeing whats being done, no thanks.
If people could have some impact and dev team was being known as friendly, not annoying and abusive, im sure theyd hel.
Bias.
Psychology with Arthur: Herd mentality - Snak5 - 09-30-2011
I also forgot to mention something to forum insults/off topic/ trolling, that people see example and they follow the trends.
Well. Follow trends well. Which is bad in this case.
Psychology with Arthur: Herd mentality - ProwlerPC - 10-04-2011
The wiki is a fantastic example of this phenomenon. Anyone can type their crud in there and somewhere out there in the world someone is using that info in an argument as fact.
* ProwlerPC goes to check if Stephen Colbert still single handedly saved the African Elephants from extinction.........
Psychology with Arthur: Herd mentality - Daedric - 10-04-2011
Rebelling against authority is also a interesting subject in Psychology I hear. In sociology too.
Psychology with Arthur: Herd mentality - Jeremy Hunter - 10-04-2011
' Wrote:The wiki is a fantastic example of this phenomenon. Anyone can type their crud in there and somewhere out there in the world someone is using that info in an argument as fact.
* Jeremy Hunter goes to check if Stephen Colbert still single handedly saved the African Elephants from extinction.........
Better yet...:cool: <<<btw thats a link, the emoticon:P
Anyways, my input:
There are pros, there are cons.
But if I jump on a bandwagon, I still retain my own ideas. Just means thiers are closest to mine.