“The goal [of writing] is to get to the place where your usual judgy mind has been quietened, your easy opinions get reduced and you’re in a kind of holy state of not knowing anything.”
— George Saunders
Why We Herd
Herd behavior is the basis for marketing, propaganda, economic bubbles and pyramid schemes. We often attribute blind conformity to FOMO, bad actors and social media. The truth, however, is more benign. Hype works because of a social phenomenon known as information cascades.
Cartoon Credit: Robert Mankoff / The New Yorker