Herding Instinct ~ 群集本能

說得太多﹐想得太少。

But Far More Numerous was the Herd of Such, Who Think Too Little, and Who Talk Too Much.

~ John Dryden


Spawn A ~ Photo taken 17 Mar

 Herd behavior pertains to the behavior of animals in herds, flocks and schools, and to human conduct in stock market bubbles and crashes, mob violence and opinion forming. In many cases, circumstances can conspire to undermine the wisdom of crowds if a few individuals in a population  could exert an excessive influence to kick start people's "herding instinct" and rally around an absurd idea.

Herding animals do better when they live in larger social groups than in solitude. In the wild, many animals depend upon their sheer numbers to gather food, confuse or ward off predators to ensure a higher chance for survival.

Video taken on 25 March ~ a school of Spawn A BBRs
 

Likewise, our domesticated fancy Goldfish do better in a herd too; they are less stressful, more accustomed to humans and develop better when they are kept in appropriate numbers. Though a group of Goldfish, especially Ranchus swimming and glazing together is a charming sight to behold, however, a bigger number of fishes translates to a bigger challenge on water quality. The successful hobbyists balance their stocking based on the size of the fish, the space and the amount of food to keep their fishes healthy. 

Our Goldfish reacted out of their basic instinct for herding and could not rationalise, shouldn't we humans? ;-)