Rudyard Kipling on Societal Pressures
In the short story “A Wayside Comedy,” published in 1888 in Under the Deodars, Kipling wrote:
You must remember, though you will not understand, that all laws weaken in a small and hidden community where there is no public opinion. When a man is absolutely alone in a Station he runs a certain risk of falling into evil ways. This risk is multiplied by every addition to the population up to twelve—the Jury number. After that, fear and consequent restraint begin, and human action becomes less grotesquely jerky.
Interesting commentary on how reputational pressure scales. If I had found this quote last year, I would have included it in my book.
Daniel • August 16, 2012 2:04 PM
Define a “certain risk”.
What psychology teaches is not that groups are any better or any worse than individuals when it it comes to risk assessment in the aggregate. But the type of risks they are susceptible too are different.
One of the nice things about being a loner is that you’re not susceptible to systemic risk because your not part of any social system.