MOO-ving Away from the Herd

It started with a simple observation.
I visited multiple schools during field visits for my project, and in every school I went to, I saw the same pattern repeat: students copying and asking each other for answers for a survey even after being told that there were no right or wrong answers.

My first thought was, “I see the herd mentality playing out… but why?” The purpose of a herd is safety, belonging and acceptance. But was it easier to follow everyone else than to answer honestly? What is the cost of being in the herd? Is it lack of honest expression, individuality, freethinking or pressure to follow others? If students couldn’t answer a harmless survey honestly, what did that say about the bigger choices we make?

Everywhere I lived, I saw herd mentality and conformity taking its course where thoughts, norms, traditions go without being challenged, because ‘this is how it has always been done’, ‘it is our tradition and culture’. So, I had to understand the psychology behind it and that led me to Asch’s conformity experiment. People knowingly gave wrong answers simply because everyone else in the room did. They doubted themselves and stayed silent rather than risking to stand out or be different. It made me wonder how important belonging and validation is over what is right.

I made a lot of personal choices to step away from what was defined normal. I could never tolerate unfair treatment and disrespect, so I had to make tough choices for my well-being and core values even if it meant facing fear, judgments, and the risk of starting over. It was never easy and never will be. But courage isn’t always loud or revolutionary, sometimes it’s quiet like walking away from toxic relationships or leaving a job that drains you or even saying no.

But I knew this can’t be black or white thinking which led me to question if herd mentality is bad?. Maybe it isn’t because if the herd comes together as freethinkers and not followers, it can be incredibly powerful. Look at young people and groups protesting across the world, they are not just resisting blindly; they are asking for change.

Maybe your act of courage and moving away from herd is small. Maybe it’s walking away. Maybe it’s asking difficult questions. Maybe it is choosing what is right for you over someone’s opinion. The act of courage is contagious because every small act builds into something powerful enough to change you or even the world.

“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it”

Nelson Mandela