Herd Mentality

I read this post on Freakonomics blog that talked about the herd mentality when it came to boarding a bus… if you think about it people usually board the bus from the stop nearest to them. And its quite logical to use a bus stop that’s nearer to you. But when a lot of people start thinking the same, that bus stop becomes overcrowded. And somehow people still don’t realize that if they just go a few yards away to another bus stop that’s less crowded they have better chances of boarding a bus than they had earlier…

Something quite similar I experienced when I went to a mall beside my work place. The thing is this mall has nearby commercial offices. Thus, during lunch hours the food court and lavatories are the 2 places with long lines.

One day, instead of waiting in the line, I took the escalator to the next floor’s lavatory. It took me precisely 47 seconds to move up to floor 1 and find the men’s room there. And it was completely empty. Not a soul was there, and since no one used it, it was far cleaner than the one on the ground floor which probably was being rummaged by a lot of people at that time.

This is where herd mentality gets to you. Same goes for checkout counters in supermarkets. The checkout lines to the extreme end are more or less empty, while the checkout lines towards the middle are heavily crowded. Why? I mean, isn’t that common sense to move towards a line that’s not too crowded so that everyone can checkout faster!? Herd mentality again!