Mammalian brain · Social Drives & Status
De-individuation Trigger
When people feel anonymous inside a crowd, they follow the crowd's norms — generous or cruel — rather than their own; pile-ons, mobs and hype waves run on it.
An everyday example
Joining a thread's pile-on with words you would never say to the person's face.
What it can cost you
Acting as the crowd acts, and being acted on by a crowd that has stopped thinking.
Warning signs
- I am doing what the thread is doing.
- I feel anonymous.
One thing to do
Re-individuate before acting: sign your name to it in your head; if you would not, do not.
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