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Originally posted by Fade to Black
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Just took a quick break from my work to watch the financial news for a bit, was suddenly hit with the urge to write the following mini-essay...
The sheep in a herd vs. The lone wolf on a mountain
The recent chaos that has affected the stock markets, triggering a sensory overload of commentary, panic, analysis and scrutiny has provided me some interesting insights into human psychology, and has made me realize that across the board, some traits are universal.
I am not too familiar with markets, nor do I have much interest in them, but from a casual observation of how those around me have reacted and lived in the past month, I can draw a similar parallel to a personal experience.
About 4 years ago, towards the end of my freshman year of college at the University of Michigan, I began developing an interest in aesthetics, particularly that of the world of high fashion and personal style. In order to better educate myself in this field, I began on what was a pretty interesting journey that has taken up the better part of my spare time until recently. I participated in a variety of online fashion forums, each one a distinct community with a tone and flair that was different from the next. As social beings, us humans naturally gravitate towards those that we admire, those in whom we see traits familiar to our own or perhaps characteristics we look up to and would like to emulate. It is natural for people to desire the acceptance and validation from such groups in which we voluntarily immerse ourselves, so that we can be considered a part of the action and hopefully grow and benefit from this engagement.
As I came to participate more and more actively in these online forums, I had gotten to a point where I felt comfortable developing a vision and identity of my own, one that often clashed with that of the majority participating within these clusters of communication. One reason why I do not think it is particularly healthy or beneficial for someone trying to 'find' themselves to do so through such a medium, let alone one based around an interest as superficial as clothing, is because often times, within communities where the same members congregate and interact, there begins to form a sort of social hierarchy. People who manage to assert themselves as dominant in these groups can sway the masses to lean a certain way, and as a result those on the middle are easily subjected to substituting tribal groupthink for their own intelligence and opinion in order to receive approval. This is not singular to an online forum. It is the same thing we see in political spheres, large corporations, or even real life social circles. It is this distinction of 'noise' versus self-assurance that dictates people into two kinds. One can absorb all the signals around them to the point they are lost in the shuffle; it takes a strong personality to distinguish oneself from the herd which they sought to be a part of in the first place. Repercussions are obviously greater in those which have a larger stake in our personal interest, such as our jobs or our schools. Luckily, participation in online forums could be maneuvered in and out with the single click of a mouse with (hopefully) not much bearing on our own self worth and social standing.
Going back to the financial crisis of the markets of 2008, I came to observe and understand a phenomenon that moved people left and right, up and down, driving them mad and bouncing off the walls. It was not so much a matter of the markets themselves, but rather it was a reflection of the psychology of the people participating in them. Markets, much like online forums, are a sort of social human interaction, but just of a different nature. Obviously, the number of people participating in the stock market are of a much higher number than those in a forum, therefore it is much harder to distinguish the standing of those next to us in the market, where standing may be measured by the performance of one's investment decisions. We have economic and financial commentators and strategists employed by large banks and government to give 24-hour, 7-day-a-week live analysis on what is going on by the minute, and it is easy to see the trap that lies in this assertion of knowledge and certainty. For a minute shareholder, who perhaps put their life savings away in companies that they are banking their future, their retirement, their childrens' growth etc. on, it is perhaps comfortable to listen to someone who is apparently in a position designated to provide some sense of authority on these issues. Yet the nature of markets, much like the leanings of the fashion industry, sway to and fro in a manner that seems uniform, but is in fact very much random and beyond the control of anyone. The self-professed media fashion guru is no more an expert on her subject than the investment bank research director who predicts that object A is going to move in direction B, and that it is most certain this will happen. If it does happen, then perhaps it is a triumph of one's psychology managing to assert itself into the psyche of the majority to go in that same direction. The larger the pool, the higher the frequency of noise and randomly fluctuating molecules, and the more variance in directions taken.
In conclusion, I've come to find that in any situation, it is always best to observe rather than participate. Now I am not advocating inaction over action. Action should always be taken, but never taken dependent on the validation of an outside agent, at least not directly. To throw yourself into the endless stream of comments, arguments, debate and analysis is basically to jump into the lion's den wearing a necklace of fresh lamb meat; you will get chewed up and spit back out barely resembling what you thought you did when you first started. To maintain a sense of knowledge and awareness to what everyone else is doing is critical, but only as a tool to gauge and time your next move, instead of letting others' words shape your own beliefs and identity. If anything, when seeing that many people are doing a certain thing, it is probably in your best interest to do the exact opposite. When people start going in your direction, that's a signal to pack your bags and move on. We may not be able to exist completely independent of the world around us; but it is very much possible to calmly and smartly live in our surroundings without having to be drowned out by the noise.
The sheep in a herd vs. The lone wolf on a mountain
The recent chaos that has affected the stock markets, triggering a sensory overload of commentary, panic, analysis and scrutiny has provided me some interesting insights into human psychology, and has made me realize that across the board, some traits are universal.
I am not too familiar with markets, nor do I have much interest in them, but from a casual observation of how those around me have reacted and lived in the past month, I can draw a similar parallel to a personal experience.
About 4 years ago, towards the end of my freshman year of college at the University of Michigan, I began developing an interest in aesthetics, particularly that of the world of high fashion and personal style. In order to better educate myself in this field, I began on what was a pretty interesting journey that has taken up the better part of my spare time until recently. I participated in a variety of online fashion forums, each one a distinct community with a tone and flair that was different from the next. As social beings, us humans naturally gravitate towards those that we admire, those in whom we see traits familiar to our own or perhaps characteristics we look up to and would like to emulate. It is natural for people to desire the acceptance and validation from such groups in which we voluntarily immerse ourselves, so that we can be considered a part of the action and hopefully grow and benefit from this engagement.
As I came to participate more and more actively in these online forums, I had gotten to a point where I felt comfortable developing a vision and identity of my own, one that often clashed with that of the majority participating within these clusters of communication. One reason why I do not think it is particularly healthy or beneficial for someone trying to 'find' themselves to do so through such a medium, let alone one based around an interest as superficial as clothing, is because often times, within communities where the same members congregate and interact, there begins to form a sort of social hierarchy. People who manage to assert themselves as dominant in these groups can sway the masses to lean a certain way, and as a result those on the middle are easily subjected to substituting tribal groupthink for their own intelligence and opinion in order to receive approval. This is not singular to an online forum. It is the same thing we see in political spheres, large corporations, or even real life social circles. It is this distinction of 'noise' versus self-assurance that dictates people into two kinds. One can absorb all the signals around them to the point they are lost in the shuffle; it takes a strong personality to distinguish oneself from the herd which they sought to be a part of in the first place. Repercussions are obviously greater in those which have a larger stake in our personal interest, such as our jobs or our schools. Luckily, participation in online forums could be maneuvered in and out with the single click of a mouse with (hopefully) not much bearing on our own self worth and social standing.
Going back to the financial crisis of the markets of 2008, I came to observe and understand a phenomenon that moved people left and right, up and down, driving them mad and bouncing off the walls. It was not so much a matter of the markets themselves, but rather it was a reflection of the psychology of the people participating in them. Markets, much like online forums, are a sort of social human interaction, but just of a different nature. Obviously, the number of people participating in the stock market are of a much higher number than those in a forum, therefore it is much harder to distinguish the standing of those next to us in the market, where standing may be measured by the performance of one's investment decisions. We have economic and financial commentators and strategists employed by large banks and government to give 24-hour, 7-day-a-week live analysis on what is going on by the minute, and it is easy to see the trap that lies in this assertion of knowledge and certainty. For a minute shareholder, who perhaps put their life savings away in companies that they are banking their future, their retirement, their childrens' growth etc. on, it is perhaps comfortable to listen to someone who is apparently in a position designated to provide some sense of authority on these issues. Yet the nature of markets, much like the leanings of the fashion industry, sway to and fro in a manner that seems uniform, but is in fact very much random and beyond the control of anyone. The self-professed media fashion guru is no more an expert on her subject than the investment bank research director who predicts that object A is going to move in direction B, and that it is most certain this will happen. If it does happen, then perhaps it is a triumph of one's psychology managing to assert itself into the psyche of the majority to go in that same direction. The larger the pool, the higher the frequency of noise and randomly fluctuating molecules, and the more variance in directions taken.
In conclusion, I've come to find that in any situation, it is always best to observe rather than participate. Now I am not advocating inaction over action. Action should always be taken, but never taken dependent on the validation of an outside agent, at least not directly. To throw yourself into the endless stream of comments, arguments, debate and analysis is basically to jump into the lion's den wearing a necklace of fresh lamb meat; you will get chewed up and spit back out barely resembling what you thought you did when you first started. To maintain a sense of knowledge and awareness to what everyone else is doing is critical, but only as a tool to gauge and time your next move, instead of letting others' words shape your own beliefs and identity. If anything, when seeing that many people are doing a certain thing, it is probably in your best interest to do the exact opposite. When people start going in your direction, that's a signal to pack your bags and move on. We may not be able to exist completely independent of the world around us; but it is very much possible to calmly and smartly live in our surroundings without having to be drowned out by the noise.
we joke that I am the adopted child.
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