Following the Herd - The Bandwagon Effect

I began lifting weights early in 2013. As most newbies I didn't know what to do. I felt uncomfortable. Luckily, I was frequenting a small gym and there weren't too many people exercising at 8 A.M. So I could experiment and fail unembarrassed.

I knew that I wasn't going to reinvent the 'wheel' of lifting so it made sense to adopt the protocols other people found successful. I cannot recall how or why, but I started following a minimalist training approach: spending as little time as possible in the gym but trying to get the most out of it.

There was this training protocol where you'd workout for as less as 12 minutes a week - 1 training session. I assume I had adopted it because it was being followed by many people in my online social media circle.

I hoped-on this minimal-training bandwagon. I kindof embraced it immediately, without too much reasonable self-questioning.

Was it in accordance with my physique goals?

It wasn't. You see, it's not that the training protocol doesn't work.

It works; and it can work well if you desire an average physique (not too much muscle definition). It may be challenging to make it work if your purpose is a bodybuilder-like physique for example. I personally know of only a few examples of people for which it worked (my knowledge may be limited though) compared to other more proven protocols.

Maybe there are many people who can make it right. But I wasn't one of them. It didn't fit my goals.

It took some courage to jump off the wagon, but when I did it and when I experimented with other protocols and when I started doing my own routines, I saw improvements in my results.

Someone once said that beliefs are conclusions reached by those who are lazy to think things for themselves. That's been my case as well.

It was difficult to let go of my beliefs, even though they didn't serve to my ultimate goal. I had to remove myself from the comfort and the protection of the bandwagon. I had to step outside of its boundaries...

As Emerson said, "to be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”

So, what is really going on with this bandwagon effect?

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This is the fourth part in my series on human irrationality. Here are the previous ones:

1. Our Irrational Selves - The Priming Effect
2. Our Irrational Selves - The Confirmation Bias
3. Things Make Sense in Retrospect - The Hindsight Bias

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The Bandwagon Effect

We tend to adopt beliefs because other people do so. It's safer and less energy consuming to attune to the popular wisdom instead of forming our own judgments. A more formal definition:

"The bandwagon effect is a phenomenon whereby the rate of uptake of beliefs, ideas, fads and trends increases the more that they have already been adopted by others. In other words, the bandwagon effect is characterized by the probability of individual adoption increasing with respect to the proportion who have already done so.[1] As more people come to believe in something, others also "hop on the bandwagon" regardless of the underlying evidence."*

Here's a great write-up by Suzy Kassem in Rise Up and Salute the Sun:

“Let's face it. We live in a command-based system, where we have been programmed since our earliest school years to become followers, not individuals. We have been conditioned to embrace teams, the herd, the masses, popular opinion -- and to reject what is different, eccentric or stands alone.

We are so programmed that all it takes for any business or authority to condition our minds to follow or buy something is to simply repeat a statement more than three or four times until we repeat it ourselves and follow it as truth or the best trendiest thing. This is called "programming" -- the frequent repetition of words to condition us how to think, what to like or dislike, and who to follow.”

When we see a new product or service coming out and we wonder if we should use it, seeing other people enjoying the product/service is highly influential. Think of testimonials for example.

As soon as there are enough people using the product/service or even idea, we have a bandwagon in the making. At this point, its perpetuation is often self-sustaining. There are times when because of poor momentum, bandwagons have limited lifetime and they fade like fads.

Bandwagons can lose momentum. Such was my case of stopping to comform to the beliefs of the minimal training protocol. My influence to the momentum of the bandwagon may have been little. However, if enough people would have done what I did, the bandwagon could have subsided.

We often see these herd-like behaviors in our daily surroundings. Think of diet fads: high-carb, low-carb, atkins, ketogenic, vegetarian, raw, meat-only, you name it.

Such fads often root from conformity, not from judgment and sound reasoning. General Patton once said that if everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking.

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How to deal with Bandwagons

1. Understand that the bandwagon effect is driven by the deep human need to belong.

Going against it is going against human nature. It is like opting in for an undesirable state of loneliness. But is it?

It can also be an opt-in towards a more independent-type of thinking. Countless achievers in human history testify for that.

2. Form your own judgment. Think before embracing a fad. Think, damn it!

If you go against the grain you got to arm yourself with self-reliance. Self-reliance is pre-packaged with self-confidence.

You have to stand strong. If you are onto something great, you have to push it....often relying on nobody but yourself.

Rollo May couldn't have said it better:

“The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice, it's conformity.”

3. Exploit the Bandwagon effect. Gain from it.

The devil is not that black though. You can take advantage of the bandwagon effect. You just have to know how to be part of the right one.

A good bandwagon can serve a virtuous circle. Joining a group of people who are always leaning toward self betterment is never a bad idea: whether it's a group of friends who frequent the gym, or another group who are always trying to improve their diet, or people who want to make more money by delivering businesses of value.

But this is the tricky part though.

All bandwagons purpose/dream for a great goal. Looking at the track record of its members is key.

It's not enough to attune to a group of guys who 'want' to frequent the gym. Everyone 'wants' to go to the gym more often. Many people actually go to the gym. But, from my limited view, not many see consistent positive results from this habit. So, in your choosing of a bandwagon, look at the results of its members: are they consistent with their goals?

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Ending thoughts

Whatever you do, know that this effect is real and that it works without you being conscious of it. I hope I have increased your awareness of it.

Now, it's your choice to see what beliefs you've adopted for granted (just because others did so) and whether or not you're going to keep them (if they serve you well) or reformulate/refresh your judgment about them. Do know:

“Sheep all together, cars all together, people all together, crows all together, ants all together! Everywhere is full of herds! To breath comfortably, to feel free, to think better and to find the beauties of the unknown paths leave your herd! In whichever herd you are in, leave it!” Mehmet Murat ildan

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Credits for Image: here

#psychology #practical

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Cristi Vlad, Self-Experimenter and Author