If all your friends jumped off a bridge, would you join them?

Or would you lead the way?

- Photo by Darcy Beau

This analogy cropped up as the cornerstone of my childhood, but what does it mean anyway? There weren’t hordes of children jumping off bridges anywhere, I’m sure this phrase was wholly intended as a message to not do something stupid just because everyone else is doing it.

But what about today? As adults, we don’t have the same level of intimate supervision that our parents gave us in adolescence. In becoming the stewards of our destiny, we lost the wisdom of the ages that we looked to for guidance.

Our culture is currently defined by the direction of the masses. Individual actions trend toward following the momentum of the crowd. This basis of social conformity has been thoroughly demonstrated by the work of Dr. Solomon Asch.

The genetic curse of our species; monkey see, monkey do. This is where we get the social danger of mass formation sycosis. The German people saw their neighbors change and believed they were doing the right thing by supporting the rise of Nazi power. The Christian and Muslim zealots believed they were doing the right thing when ordered to burn the library of Alexandria. The North Koreans believe they are doing the right thing by worshiping a single individual as their savior and protector.

I see a history of cultures that collectively jumped off the metaphorical bridge that today we consider to be a bad move. I see aspects of our culture today that generations from now will probably consider the same of us.

As humans, we are blind to our destiny, clouded in the daily scrutiny of maintaining the status quo; afraid to rock the boat. I wake up and drink coffee because that’s what I saw everyone else doing. I went to school and got a job because that’s what I saw everyone else doing. I kept my head down and didn’t question the system that raised me because that’s what I saw everyone else doing.

Our shared history is a collection of crazy individuals with wild ideas coaxing masses to join their flavor of bridge jumping. This monkey is starting to see the nature of the game we’re born into. Only time will tell if this is considered a bad move anyway.