matticus
Guru
Yup. The other side of the coin is that because people who don't fit in come in for such treatment there's a powerful incentive to conform, and do as everyone else does. It's a deep rooted instinct, and people are frequently unaware they're doing it, but it can lead to some quite amusing and bizarre behaviour when psychologists design experiments to reveal it. Here's a few examples:
Training people to stand up when they hear a bleeper:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8BkzvP19v4
Facing the back of a lift:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDAbdMv14Is
Patently wrong answers:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRh5qy09nNw
And finally, when it gets really dangerous. Have you ever wondered why people don't act to save themselves in an emergency? This woman is willing to die in a burning building rather than do something different to the rest of the crowd:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjP22DpYYh8
Cool. I hadn't seen the lift film!