Society is based upon the idea of a mob mentality. People go along with what ever everyone else is thinking.

People do not like to be original or stand alone, they go with what those around them are doing, good or bad.

http://brainz.org/what-mob-mentality/ http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-mob-mentality.htm http://source.southuniversity.edu/examining-the-mob-mentality-31395.aspx http://www.theeagle.com/nation/Mob-mentality-still-lingers-in-Chicago-area-suburb http://scienceblogs.com/cortex/2008/09/herd_behavior.php All anyone wants is somewhere they belong, somewhere they will not feel alone. Although when in a group we feel we are doing what is right by going along with what everyone else is doing, that is almost never the case. This is proven to be a psychological problem that has been studied for many years. It is shown often throughout both Cold Sassy Tree and Huckleberry Finn. It is also in our society today and through out history. Newspapers are, more often then not, filled with articles with groups of people going on strikes, groups like the Klu Klux Klan going against certain races, and even in government. Society is based upon the idea of a mob mentality People go along with what ever everyone else is thinking. People do not like to be original or stand alone; they go with what those around them are doing, good or bad. Mob mentality, or herd behavior, is a very powerful and dangerous state.

For years, psychologists have been studying the ways of the mind to figure out why people act so differently when in groups than when they are being individuals. When alone, people react to certain situations much differently than they do when in a group. The perfect explanation and example of this is ...two restaurants that open next door to each other. The first hungry customer doesn't know which restaurant is better, so he flips a coin and hopes for the best. A little bit later, another customer arrives. He also...assumes that the restaurant with at least one customer must be better. When the third customer shows up, he sees two people in one restaurant and none in the other, so he also goes to the popular place(Lehrer, Herd Behavior). This is caused deindividuation according to the article the

Psychology of Mob Mentality by healthpsychologyconsultancy. This is when people stop being individuals and become part of the group(Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary). This is a very perilous way of thinking. When in a group, people tend to lose their sense of responsibility. Violent behavior suddenly becomes okay because the responsibility is on the group, not the individual. People no longer feel like anything they do is really their fault, they got lost in the group and figure their individual identity does not matter.