A new tale about herd mentality
The herd gallops through the forest. The thunder of their hooves can be heard from afar. They follow the herd’s king in the front, who is chasing the enemy, the bad enemy, that must be conquered to make the herd great again. The king knows where the enemy is, and the herd just follows him.
Then a strange object appears and the king roars “Stop!!!” Silence in the forest. The king observes the strange tall rusted iron object that stands against a big tree. “I swear it’s from the enemy!” he bellows. He turns to his followers looking them in the eyes one by one enforcing their loyalty and trying to spot any traitors who might have something to do with this strange object. “I swear it’s from the enemy!”, he repeats with a deep dark voice. “They are trying to block us. They think they can stop us…” he explains with a mysterious tone in his voice. The herd is paralysed, staring at the king and waiting for his orders. They watch the king standing there in front of the strange object. He is brave. He is not afraid of the object.
The king smashes the big thing on the ground, takes it in his mouth and starts fighting with it. He fights and fights against the big stick, growling and shaking his head up and down to get it under his control. The flock cheers and admires the king’s bravery. With the stick in his mound, the king moves towards the middle of the herd and continues fighting with the stick, showing how powerful and strong he is. He shakes his head up and down again and spins around while sniffing with anger at the thing in his mouth. The stick moves wildly through the air, hitting the heads of the followers around, many got a bump on their head, several followers are badly injured, some are smashed on the ground, and a few don’t survive.
While the king keeps on fighting with the stick, the number of deaths in the herd increases. Some followers wonder what to do. Should they leave the herd to save their live? The herd’s cheers are slowly fading out. The king stops fighting and drops the strange object from his mouth, calling it “disgusting” as it doesn’t fight back. He looks around. He sees the dead bodies and the injured heads of his followers. Standing in the middle of the herd he shouts “It is the enemy’s fault that so many of you have been killed by this strange object! The enemy is guilty. They put this object here!”
He explains “I have saved many lives by fighting the stick”, and adds: “If I hadn’t fought with this object, it could have fallen down on the herd, and would have killed many more of you. The enemy’s fault!” He tells the herd about his feelings when he was fighting with the strange object. The herd listens obediently to what he has to say. “I did it for you, for the herd!” he swears. And he proclaims that the object didn’t hit him, “because I am so strong and powerful!” The herd is happy again. This is the king they want to have, a true hero, who sacrifices himself and struggles to save their lives, a saviour king. While the herd is cheering enthusiastically again to their saviour, the king roars “We will win! Follow me and we will be great again!” … and the herd continues galloping through the forest, leaving the dead bodies behind, and following their roaring saviour king straight to the abyss.
17–10–2020
