We may think that we are in control of our own thoughts and behaviour, and we are most of the time, but the way we act when there is a trend involved tells a different story.

​

Okay, so we have all followed a trend. It’s no secret. Everything we do normally comes from someone else’s idea. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t take inspiration from someone else (because following a trend is not a bad thing), but I did find it interesting to find out why so many people do.

​

Scientists have found that we take cues from our environment and society on how to act. They think it is because we find that it’s the easiest option. The more people who have whatever that thing might be, the more we start to want it too. We normally do it without even thinking or realising. Some scientists say that it satisfies our need to belong, to be in a group of similar people. Since the time when cavemen were around, humans evolved to live in groups. We have always needed ways to keep interactions calm and keep conflict away. For example, traffic flows better when all the cars are going in the same direction, and psychologists have found that our brain looks for patterns and order. In the cave ages, order and pattern were crucial to survival. One wrong judgement and your life could be over.

​

The other reason that many people follow the crowd is that we all want to be liked and accepted. You have a better chance of fitting in if you do whatever everyone else does, right? Going against the traffic takes a lot of effort for our brain to manage, since it is basically against our nature. Doing something like that can be scary because we are at risk of not belonging and feeling alone. But whoever started that trend didn’t copy from an idea already made. They took their own risk and managed to make many people follow.

​

So, we’re all actually likely to follow a trend, at some point in time. There’s really no escape from it. We will always be in that cycle. But there are people among us who follow their own thoughts and are willing to be heard and seen.

Is it something you are born with or is it something that your parents help you gain? Probably we will never know. I suppose it is just having the confidence to step into the spotlight…