anonymity (a basis for mob mentality)

our sociology teacher told us an interesting story yesterday. he drew on the board the basic shape of his old high school. he told us that one night, after a basketball game, when all the adrenaline-filled students emptied out of the gym, there was only one exit--and it basically led right into the street. a cop driving by, seeing the beginnings of a mob, decided the best way to break it up was to drive the squad car through the crowd. apparently he had never learned from this mistake, because he did this several times afterward. he only got halfway through the mob before he got stuck. as previous tales of riots tell us, there was nothing else for the mob to do except rock the car. my teacher, the delinquent student that he was (or so he tells us), was among the closest people who started trying to tip it over. he was surprised to see, however, a certain girl, pushing with all her might on the back left wheel well. this girl, he recalled, was the most sincere "miss goody two-shoes" he ever knew--if she so much as spit on the sidewalk she'd turn herself in. and yet here she was, part of the group that eventually ended up tipping the car over. he was so curious as to why she was there that he practially cornered her the monday after that weekend and asked her why she tipped the car over.

"I didn't."
"Yes you did. I saw you there."
"But I didn't tip that car over."
"You were there at the game though, weren't you?"
"Well, yes."
"Weren't you in the crowd on the street after the game."
"Yes."
"Did you see the squad car drive in?"
"Oh yeah."
"But you must remember..."
"I didn't tip the car over. Everybody did."

The larger a group gets, the higher the sense of anonymity you feel.

You have internal control. You get that from the outside, but you hold it inside.

When you become part of a large group, you lose that control, and therefore the ability to be yourself. You become part of the group. You "go with the flow". That's why, he suggested, don't ever go to watch a riot--there will be no way that you won't get swept up in the action and join the mob.

PostScript i really think i am going to enjoy this class.

-d