The Sheep People
By Claire Chmarny
Ever had the feeling you’ve just been swept along with the crowd? Well scientists at the University of Leeds have discovered that like our woolly and feathered friends, humans flock together.Results have shown that it only takes just 5% of a crowd to influence the rest of the mindless bunch without them even realising it. The findings showed that any ‘informed individuals’ within the group were followed by the others, forming a self-organising, snake-like structure.
The experiment consisted of a lot of people walking around silently, in random directions inside a large hall, with only a select few participants having been told where to walk. (Sounds a bit like a bizarre P.E. lesson to me.)
Professor Jens Krause of the University’s Faculty of Biological Sciences was surprised, “In this case the most of the participants didn’t realise they were being led along by others.”These new findings could have an impact on the way in which large crowds are organised in disaster scenarios, where verbal communication might be difficult. On top of this it could also prove to be useful in managing the day to day flow of pedestrians through big cities or even at big events.
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Image: Thad Zajdowicz
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