crusade
It has been said that as long as the human species is in a living state conformity shall be part of how human society functions and part of man’s natural tendencies. The more people already agree upon or share a particular idea, the more easily a newcomer will in turn be converted to that idea, and the more difficult it will be for one already converted to reject that idea. Therefore, man will most likely obey to what the majority believes is correct, even if he had a different point of view; he will convert and learn to reject all other ideas that do not match to the majority’s idea. This not only allows the newcomer to feel welcomed, yet it may also give him sense of belonging and of safety. This is the primary reason for why man is so prone and willing to obey. People who study conformity, not only by current experiments but also by looking at humanity’s history regarding conformity, find that these tendencies have existed as long as Homo sapiens have belong to groups or tribes. However, when it came time to make a critical decision among the people, the majority always determined it; leaving the minority with the responsibility of having to carry out actions they didn’t necessarily agree with. Therefore, people in the minority may be convinced, sooner or later, that what they were ordered to do was the best choice, simply because they have learned to trust in the majority. Thus, they begin to loose individuality and gain confidence in the word of authority. In Doris Lessing’s article, Group Minds, she says, “It is a portrait that may not have been acquired consciously, but is part of a general atmosphere or set of assumptions that influence our ideas about ourselves (Lessing 333).” In other terms, she is saying that man’s tendencies to obey have been gained, or obtained, without him having wanted to, unconsciously.