It’s a term to indicate that a person will look at the behavior of the rest of the people in the surroundings before acting or doing something, especially in the times of uncertainty.

There was an experiment done in psychology on social proof . It goes something like this:

“..one or more confederates would look up into the sky; bystanders would then look up into the sky to see what they were seeing. At one point this experiment aborted, as so many people were looking up that they stopped traffic.” source.

By looking at the action of the others and imitate or repeat the same behavior, the person gains assurance in themselves. They think that they have avoided social faux pas. They think that they can’t go wrong if others have done it and survived it.

However, to simply repeat what others are doing, without gaining any understanding or having any belief in it is rather absurd.

“I will graduate, work with the government for stability, have a family and retire at 50 or 60.”

“I will do everything like everybody else.”

Perhaps, the time has come for you to stand forward. Be the first person to initiate the big thing without waiting for others to implement it. Be a leader instead of a follower. Be an innovator instead of an imitator.

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