Using our own innate nature as humans against our interests

As some may have noticed from the left hand side bar, AI data centres seem to have been scanning one of my 2021 posts caller Snugglers II. 

After reading the post and comments again, I've used Sam Vega's comment about the "bandwagon effect" for this post as it seems to be one of those permanently relevant observations about social and political matters. 

There are some interesting insights to be had in reading around the "bandwagon effect" and "social compliance" in Social Psychology. I get the sense that we are being gently manipulated by people who have studied this stuff in detail; in effect, using our own innate nature as humans against our interests. It makes me more inclined to value those oddballs who do not conform. That weird old boy who endlessly cycles around our nearest town with a big trailer full of dogs...that woman who carries old newspapers clutched to her bosom...the kid who talks to himself in public in a loud monotone. These people might become more important, and might even become valuable to us as the ratchet tightens.

The bandwagon effect is a cognitive bias characterized by the tendency of individuals to adopt particular opinions, behaviors, or attitudes primarily because they observe others, especially a perceived majority, doing the same, often irrespective of the intrinsic merits of the choice.