Scientific Definition
A small group can dominate when the majority is silent or divided.
Plain-English Definition
A small group can dominate when the majority is silent or divided.
Feynman Explanation
The loudest 10% can sound like the whole room.
Core Principle
A small group can dominate when the majority is silent or divided.
Mechanisms
Pending editorial review.
A small group can dominate when the majority is silent or divided.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Listening to the loudest voices can misrepresent the real majority.
Inputs (Triggers)
Pending editorial review.
Outputs (Behaviors)
Pending editorial review.
Behavioral Signature
The loudest 10% can sound like the whole room.
Examples
- A vocal minority of customers shapes a product roadmap.
- Listening to the loudest voices can misrepresent the real majority.
Pending editorial review.
Famous Experiments
Pending editorial review.
Design Principles
- Survey the silent majority and weight input by impact.
Measurement Approaches
Pending editorial review.
Evidence
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
The Perverse Incentive Lens™
How this behavior is exploited — and how to redesign around it.
- Survey the silent majority and weight input by impact.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Interactive Mini Network
Click any neighbor to re-center the graph and follow the threads of connection.
Knowledge Graph Neighbors
Auto-linked to the rest of the Human Behavior Taxonomy by family, domain, dimension, and shared keywords.
A consistent minority can shift the majority's views over time.
A group decides on a course of action that nobody actually wants, because everyone assumes others prefer it.
Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
We attribute our own actions to situations but others' actions to their character.
We favor people who are similar to us or who like us.
Sacrificing for others without expecting a personal reward.
Masking the sponsors of a message to make it appear grassroots.
Disagreement grows more extreme as the parties think more about the issue.
Systematic errors in explaining the causes of behavior — yours or others'.
We accept vague, general statements as personally meaningful.
Adding the word 'because' (with any reason) increases compliance dramatically.
Behaviors spread through groups via observation and imitation.