Why Social Proof Teaches You To Be Foolish
Have ever you felt awkward when you do something different from others?
People as members of a group tend to behave the same way. The assumption, right or wrong, depends the norm of group. That’s why they try to always the same place with others, and that leads to making wrong decisions.
It is dangerous.
You may fall for this trap.
Rolf Dobelli, the author of a book title: “The Art of Thinking Clearly,” says that the concept of social proof comes from ancient period. It was used as survival strategy.
Long time back up, people lived as hunter-gatherer communities. They grew in the wild. To survive and prosper, they had to identify all dangerous things and codified it to pass on generation to generation. Otherwise, they may fall prey to wild animals, for example, they had knowledge to differentiate what kind animals they would encounter, either tigers or bufallos, by observing on the spot. Therefore, they knew when to escape or to keep hunting.
So, they grew with this value to make their community exist. But now, social proof does not serve as survival strategy, but most likely to attempt to create trends and marketing campaigns. That’s why marketing industry is thriving.
What do you think?
