Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
you follow the fleeing herd compared to making up your own mind
first and checking whether there really is a danger. Historically, most
independent actors who didn
'
t flee with the group at the moment of
actual danger didn
t survive that danger and had no offspring. Even
today, we can see that this herd instinct is active in keeping each other
out of harm
'
'
s way. But the herd instinct has strange side effects. Due
to this instinct, modest swings in our economy develop into huge fluc-
tuations on the stock market. We want to maintain our safety in the
group, so we sell our stocks when all others are selling their stocks,
even if the prices are low, and we buy when everybody else is buying,
even when the prices are too high.
A bank run is a perfect example of our herd instinct.
Strangely enough, the herd instinct can even have an opposite and
damaging effect. Although it contributes to managing safety as a group,
it can lead to collective trespassing of safety rules. The psychological
impact of a group can be so strong that even an independent and safe
position can be experienced as threatening, especially if you are the only
one in that position. Social exclusion directly activates the pain center, so
we want to stick to the group, even if the group is exposing itself to dan-
gers. If we are abroad in a tourist environment and have to choose
between two restaurants, we will probably choose the one with the most
guests inside, although we will have to wait longer before our food is
served. We just assume that the other tourists have a better knowledge of
the quality of the restaurant and we will follow them blindly. So, influenc-
ing teams is one of the main ways to increase safety within companies.
A team has a strong impact on safety behavior.
—
patterns that we still have today and that can be used in developing safety
behavior. Most human herds, tribes, were between 30 to 50 people. The
tribe was the basic unit in which survival, reproduction, and cooperation
were safeguarded. Tribes could cooperate in case of a mutual external
enemy or compete in case of food scarcity. Each tribe was divided into
several families with approximately ten people and three generations. The
power structure was simple. A tribe had a tribe leader who deserved his
It was in this period that our basic relational patterns developed
