Today at a stoplight with two lanes to turn left, 9 cars were in the far left lane while I was the only car in the other turn lane. I’ve seen people miss green lights because they chose the back of the long line.
Why?
Why do people choose to follow when there is an open lane in front of them?
There are many reasons, but it generally comes down to this:
We want an alibi.
If something goes wrong, as it so often does, we’d rather be in a group so as to abdicate our responsibility.
If everyone is responsible, no one is responsible.
If we pick our own path. If we lead the pack. We are responsible.
Also, people prefer to think as little as possible in daily life.
You make thousands of decisions each day, which is mentally exhausting. The easiest decision is to follow.
It’s always easier to follow.
It is the path of least resistance.
The world will never have a shortage of people to follow.
We’re always in search of people to initiate.
DanielHeth says
Totally agree with this one Ben. Even the cops will agree… if your with a group of speeders on the road, they ALWAYS go after the one in the front. There’s the responsibility, in this case for speeding.
Ben Nesvig says
Great example.