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cedenof10 t1_ixexhhq wrote

Reply to comment by DrJGH in Sheep flocks operate as a type of ‘collective intelligence’ and elect temporary leaders to guide them while moving. The fluidity of this process is extremely surprising. by nimobo

to be fair, there’s a significant difference between “this guy will choose which way to run for the next 4 mins” and “this guy will choose who can get food for the next 4 years”

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Kryptosis t1_ixf91it wrote

We probably exhibit the same behavior in chaotic crowds too. People intuitively move with those around them who seem like they know where they are going.

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[deleted] t1_ixfcw8f wrote

[deleted]

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StoneTemplePilates t1_ixgcp19 wrote

It's not just when they're spooked either, all it takes is for one of them to start poking around a hole in the hedge or disappear behind a few trees and suddenly hundreds of them are like "ohhh what's over there?!?" Even though they've been in the same field for months.

Source: decades of boredom watching sheep at my grandparents in Wales.

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DaisyHotCakes t1_ixfew0h wrote

But what happens if another of those sheep run off in a different direction than the others and the “leader” they followed? Will some of the sheep veer off ti follow the new guy or will they continue following the first one?

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AxiousDeMorte t1_ixfhcne wrote

Have you ever seen Babe? The movie with the "that'll do pig"? That, I guess, idk shinola about sheep.

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TheBirminghamBear t1_ixflyo4 wrote

> if you see a mob running the opposite direction of you, you might run with them

I mean, I sort of have to. Running at them seems a poor choice no matter what is behind them.

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shmorby t1_ixgq875 wrote

Plus I doubt I want to be running towards whatever scared a mob of people enough to run.

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Noxious_Zebra t1_ixfcs8o wrote

That’s a really interesting thought, and would be interesting to learn more about crowd psychology and what affects our decision making

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paperwasp3 t1_ixfhqn2 wrote

Finding out who the bellwether is in different situations.

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dannyp777 t1_ixx4026 wrote

Humans doen't always make the smartest and most logical choices for leaders, there are so many factors at play. Alot of the problem may come from the fact that we assume we have more complete knowledge of the candidates than we actually do and are content to base our decisions on inadequate assessment of candidates.

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