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Game-Changing

So we’re a sociable bunch.  Happy in our groups and eager to follow the chosen elite.  But what if we wish to be more than just a face in our crowds?  How do we rise through the ranks?  Rebel.  History’s great success stories are awash with those that dared to be different.  

Before the flop came the straddle.  We’re talking high-jump techniques, of course. When everyone else believed headfirst was the way forward, Dick Fosbury tore up the rulebook and always looked back.  Initially ridiculed, he quickly rose to prominence with his unique ‘back-first’ technique before comfortably winning Gold at the 1968 Mexico Olympics.  Today, almost every high-jumper across the world employs the ‘Fosbury Flop’. 

Steve Jobs’s revolutionary approach to technology is well-documented, but this quaint anecdote that brilliantly epitomises his instinctive desire to ‘think different’.  Jobs dropped out of college, but slept on the floors of his friends’ dormitory rooms to remain on campus and attend various classes that naturally interested him.  One such was calligraphy, which later inspired him to offer multiple fonts on the Macintosh computer.  A small touch perhaps, but an idea that was unheard of at the time, and yet today represents a key asset to personal computing.

Think tartan and politics.  No, not Scottish independence, but Dame Vivienne Westwood (coincidentally another University drop-out).  Along with Malcolm McClaren, the pair defined the punk movement with a clever convergence of shocking music and outrageous fashion.  But it is her innovative approach to design that cements her status as a rebel with good cause. Whilst everyone else looked to new materials to stamp an identity, Westwood incorporated historical 17th and 18th Century cloth cutting principles to her work and reinterpreted them to a punk aesthetic.  This clash of old-and-new created wonderfully unique pieces which re-defined the fashion world.

So to step out of our crowds, we must rebel against the ideals, kill our tendencies to follow and emerge as a new, and original, self.  Just like an evolving Pokémon shedding its previous incarnation.  Rebel, and they will follow. 

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Star Gazing

Huddled in our groups, we now look for direction.  But who do we put in charge of the map, and are they fit for the job? 

Social anthropologist Jamie Tehrani suggests that we humans are a hyper-social species, and therefore look to gain a great deal of our knowledge by copying rather than individual trial-and-error.  And with the astronomical rise in popularity of gossip magazines, our focus today is almost exclusively on the rich and famous.  Clearly we love a good nose (rhinoplasty is a subject-matter favourite), but do we really want to hear more about Stacey Soloman than the Home Secretary?  The issue boils down to our view of prestige. 

Prestige is a form of social reward, acknowledging individuals that have made a significant contribution to society.  The theory is that other members subsequently copy these revolutionary discoveries, thereby improving the overall state of society.  Successive generations then build on this knowledge and advance society further. 

So this guy would have been a rock-star back in the day;

Anthropologists even hold prestige as a unique aspect of our species, and universal to our cultures whether you’re from Aberdare or Abu-Dhabi.

In the 21st century however, Jamie worries that the goalposts may have moved, illustrated perfectly with this fast-food analogy;  

“We have an evolved preference for sweet-tasting and fatty foods because they motivated our ancestors to seek out ripe fruits and meat, which are rich in essential nutrients. But in today's world of mass-produced confectionery and intensive agriculture, these previously adaptive tastes have led to a massive obesity epidemic and all the health problems it's associated with.

Similarly, we can think of the mass-media as junk food for the mind. Quick. Convenient. But not exactly nutritious. We gorge ourselves on images of wealth and success because they appeal to our appetite for prestige.” 

Thanks Jamie.  To explore matters further, we recently sent out a tweet that our nation’s sweetheart, Gary Barlow, was at a nearby shop.  Clearly the photograph suggested otherwise.  Nevertheless, within seconds it was re-tweeted by a hungry fan-base; shocked, surprised, confused.  So we took it down before we caused a riot. 

Their loyalty was unquestioning.  Quite whether Gary Barlow should be their shining light should however be up for discussion.  

The issue we face today is that our criteria for ‘success’ is not as clear-cut as the bone-throwing days.  However, we still copy what we see because our brains are wired to connect this prestige to our personal adaptation and survival.  Fame is the primary source of prestige today (celebrity worship syndrome is now even an issue), and so a vicious cycle is forming; the more we see, the more we copy, and so the more we see… 

Perhaps then it’s time we feed our minds the steak that it deserves.  A nice, juicy slice of David Bowie to start. 

Sources – 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23046602

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/1777554.stm

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CROWD SURFING

Why do we seek to become a madding crowd, and what can we learn from this inherent human desire?

Directioners, Beliebers, American Juggalos; belonging to a group is an immense social phenomenon.  From our choice of clothing to dem words we speak, we naturally gravitate towards a collective identity.  But what fuels this attraction, and what can we learn from the psychology of the crowd? 

Social psychologist Gustave Le Bon proposes that a crowd provides an opportunity for members to shed feelings of personal responsibility.  As a result, we gain a strong sense of liberation when allied to a group.  We feel verified, and sometimes even above the law; queue anarchy and Che Guevara t-shirts.  In behavioural terms, Le Bon also suggests that the crowd takes on a life of its own as unquestioning members adopt the dominant opinions of the group, like the spreading of a fine disease. 

Convergence theory however suggests that crowd behavior is not a product of its own creation, but that the crowd itself is a product of like-minded individuals coming together.  This theory argues that an individual will continue to behave as normal within their chosen crowd, though their voice naturally intensifies from the greater sense of freedom and reassurance they inherit.  A bit like turning ourselves up to 11. 

In contrast, Sigmund Freud argues that joining a crowd unlocks our unconscious mind, where the voice of the many displaces our conscious thought-process and we begin to follow the charismatic leader of the group.  Surprisingly, he didn’t establish any sexual connection with this one.

Whichever theory we champion, it is clear that an individual is more confident, more assertive and more secure when part of a group.  We simply crave affirmation.  Being part of the dominant group would have also been crucial for early human survival.  It is little wonder therefore that groups form such an integral part of adolescence; a means of confirming our identities and fortifying our opinions at a particularly vulnerable time.  

In order to communicate effectively to a group, we must decipher its core philosophy and target its unifying attribute.  There will always be natural variation between members of a group, and similarly a key opinion that bonds them together and ignite its creation.  The content of a Smarties tube might look varied, but every sweet shares the same chocolate centre.  So target the chocolate.   

Sources – 

Encyclopedia of Psychology. (2000) Washington D.C.

American Psychological Association.

Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology. (2010)

Greenberg, M.S.

Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social Psychology. (1996) Oxford.

Manstead, Hewstone, Miles.

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