Animal Farm Chapter 5

The danger of being a sheep.

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Animal farm

Animal Farm chapter 5

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In the animal kingdom, it is statistically safer for prey animals to travel in numbers because banding together in large groups protects sheep from predators which will go after the outliers in the flock. If sheep follow the crowd and flee in unison, they are more likely to be spared the ultimate and gruesome death of a predator. This hard-wired instinct to follow the crowd and form a herd mentality is so strong that sheep continue to follow even to their own detriment. An agricultural guide on raising sheep points out that sheep will naturally follow trusted friends, so if the shepherd or caretaker builds trust with the sheep over time, they can lead the sheep where they want them to go-even if that destination is the slaughterhouse.

Because of this tendency in sheep, these animals are often used to illustrate how humans too have the predisposition to blindly follow the crowd. "Like a lamb to the slaughter" and "Meek as a Lamb," are just a couple of idioms in the English language that highlight the blindly obedient nature of humans.

Herd mentality in humans describes how people are influenced by their peers or leaders to adopt certain behaviors. Examples of the herd mentality range from stock market trends to health concerns to fashion. While following the crowd might keep us safely in style and privy to trends, having a herd mentality can also lead us to danger.

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