Are People Sheep?

Fortunately, uh two of the transmitter blew out and we're off the air the first 5 minutes. Bit of a schmozzle. I guess so. Well, I hope the same thing doesn't happen here. Sure hoping not, gee. Hello, this is Fred Davis speaking for change from our sound stage in Ottawa. As a rule, we report from actual locations all over Canada, but this show is a little different. Instead of speaking about other people, we're going to speak about us and perhaps you. Does that sound confusing? Well, it'll make sense if we start right from the beginning. Now, this whole idea started with all of us here in the studio. This is a typical television film crew. There's the director. Beside him is the writer. Not normally found on the job with the production crew, but he just happened to be around when we got started on this thing. Then there's the cameraman with his assistant and finally our sound mixer. He's the fellow that puts all that static on the soundtrack. An observer that day was this gentleman on my right, Dr. Everett Bullard of the University of Toronto, Department of Psychology. And I guess it was your presence that got us started on all this self-examination. Wait a minute, it was really the cameraman with his Bermuda shorts. Yes, I guess that was the beginning. We were working on a film with Dr. Bullard that called for various exterior scenes around Ottawa, including such places as the Rideau River. There was a heatwave on at the time, and it was rugged being out all day in the hot sun. We'd all discarded jackets, but we were still feeling the heat. All but one of us. Johnny Foster, the cameraman, had done the sensible thing and put on a pair of shorts. We had a few laughs and kidded Johnny a little, reacting as most people do when someone does something different. But Johnny was calm, collected, and cool, physically as well as mentally. And he started something. Next day, when we started shooting on Parliament Hill, the whole crew turned up in hot weather gear. Perhaps we overdid it a little, and I'll grant you our legs wouldn't win any beauty contests, but we were comfortable and cool. At first. I think I was the one who first noticed that we were attracting a lot of attention. People are usually curious when they see cameras and so on, but this was more than curiosity. People weren't just staring, a lot of them were glaring. We began to feel very self-conscious and rather guilty, as though we'd done something wrong. The odd thing was the individual reaction. Each was different, yet all were the same. Almost everybody reacted as though we were offending or embarrassing them personally. Before long, we felt that all of Parliament Hill was frowning on us, including the staid old lady with a reputation for disapproval. Next day was just as hot as before, but we surrendered. We all turned up in normal dress. This time we barely rated a glance from the passersby. We were hot again, but inconspicuous, and that seemed to be what we all preferred. Well, this was a fairly trivial experience. I suppose most everyone has run into uh public disapproval at sometime or another and reacted as we did, got back into line. However, we got to talking about this after and wondering why we hadn't uh simply ignored the starers and worn the shorts and been comfortable, which would have been the sensible thing to do. Mind you, we hadn't broken any laws, nobody had complained or said anything to us, but we knuckled under. This incident and others we're going to show you seemed uh worthy of passing on to you here on Perspective. Especially after we talked them over Dr. Bovard, who's a bit of a specialist on conformity. I don't know how much of a specialist I am. I am an enthusiast. I'm very keen to talk about conformity whenever I get the chance. I do feel that conformity is a disease of our society, a serious disease. You see, it makes people do things when they believe they're acting of their own accord. You can't fight something when you don't even know it exists. Calling a social habit a disease might sound a little exaggerated, but after we'd pulled our experiences and analyzed them, it all added up to something rather serious. We found we'd all had personal experiences with conformity, incidents that had happened to us or that we'd witnessed. Now, we're going to reenact some of them for you. They're all true and they did happen. We just changed the names and faces to avoid any embarrassment. Now, to start with, here's a situation I found myself in. I used to rent a room from two very nice ladies, a widow and her daughter. They were very kind and friendly and made me feel like one of the family. But all the casualness and relaxation disappeared when the outside world intruded. The ladies got all tightened up and worried. Mhm. Scene 21. Yes. Oh, yes, that's all right. 30 marks. All right. Goodbye. That's one for the road. Who was it? That was that lady from the church building committee, Mrs. Ross. She's going to drop in. Now? Yes, now. She's canvassing right on the next street. Say no. The place is a shambles, Lyndon. So, do you have to clean up and do over the table? Here, Janice, you take these glasses. She thinks we've been drinking. Fred, you fold up the table, will you? I'll do that. Inevitably, a frantic fuss because someone was going to call. Absolute panic. Mother, I haven't got another clean glass. Oh, I'll take your special off. Look at me, Dad. She'll be here any minute. Fred. Oh. There we were like dummies in a store window, ready to be inspected. Poor ladies, they worried so about appearances and were so much nicer when they relaxed and were themselves. Since we have four children, my wife and I have to regularly face those terrifying affairs, birthday parties. This one was for our 8-year-old Penny. We'd got past the sandwiches and we were into the cake and ice cream stage and horn blowing. Penny as hostess set the pace and of course every other kid had to do exactly the same. I suppose this is where conformity starts in childhood. But there was one youngster who was not taking part. And that was unusual enough to look into. I found him. It was one of the boys mooning over a pile of presents the kids had brought. Oh, there you are. You ready for ice cream, son? Why, that's a mug you gave Penny, isn't it? Just a silly old mug. Why, a mug is a very nice present. Penny will like that. It's a dopey present. Oh, come on now. So it was. His present wasn't as good as the others, he thought. Above all, it was different and that was the real problem. It made him different, too, and he didn't want to be different. I could wish now that I hadn't run into those two fellows from the old outfit. At first, it was fun getting together again after so many years, yearning about the war. But then this thing happened. Sam still, where's your badge? Oh, I don't bother with it, Charlie. They're going to be different, huh? No, I don't think so. I just I just don't like badges and buttons. Why not? I wear a badge, I think uh I have a sign on me, you know, that says uh look, I'm a veteran or a Rotarian or a member of the YMCA or something. So, in other words, a badge or a button is a phony, is that it? I didn't say that, Charlie. I I said what I preferred for myself. I asked what you meant. Charlie, what are you getting so hot about this thing for? A lot of people don't wear their badges. Ah, give it to me, Look, I got to go now. So, be seeing you. So long. Maybe I had been critical. Though I didn't mean to be. Still, they needn't have been offended. We could have talked the thing over. Or joked about it. Or just ignored it. The service button episode reminded me of Max and the dart sessions. During the lunch hour, some of the boys gather for a dart game and conversation. We pretend to talk profoundly about life and living. But no one takes the talk too seriously. Except Max. Where are we? What's so wonderful about being modern and industrialized and so on? Get this guy, Max. Oh, whatever it is, Max is against it. Now, I'm just wondering, what real progress have we made in the last couple of thousand years? Oh, what is this? We still kill each other when we go to war. We still try to get the best of each other. We're still afraid of each other. Instead of spears and arrows, we have bombers and rockets. Uh we are so modern and industrialized now. But what have we really been able to do about hate and hunger and fear in this world? I was just talking to you. You're a sorehead. Max always seems to get brushed off and hard. Nobody wants to listen to him. Most of the gang resent him. He gets everybody's back up. Oh my god, I don't know. Well, that shouldn't be a great problem for you. Wow. Those are just a few of the experiences we exchanged. Uh there were many more. One in particular we'll show you in a moment. What you've seen is probably familiar to you and may not strike you as symptoms of what Dr. Bovard calls a dangerous disease. But they are significant when they're analyzed by a specialist or enthusiast, if you like. I guess that's my cue. First, let's be clear on this word conformity. There's several kinds of conformity. As for instance, as citizens, as members of society, we all conform to the laws of the land, as we should. We agree to rules of behavior in society and then obey them for the common good. But then there's the kind of conformity that's imposed on the individual without his consent or agreement. He may find himself buying a tie or or agreeing with a boss or taking a drink because he's expected to. But the kind of conformity we're talking about is of a different sort. It's a sort of emotional conformity, a matter of habit or compulsion self-imposed. It's not based on judgment or on selection or on agreement. No one insists that your landlady be neat and tidy for casual callers. It's not an offense to give a mug as a gift. Parliament hasn't decided that all veterans should wear discharge button. Yet we're all capable of these conformist attitudes. Why? Well, emotional conformity, I think, is a product of fear of feeling insecure. We don't like to be alone and we don't like to be too different. We don't like acting or thinking independently. And we don't like people who do because they make us feel insecure. So, we try desperately to find security in the group, in the majority. We try to win approval from the group, society at large, or any group that fits our needs. But, of course, it never works out. We never do feel secure. We only perpetuate our fear because we seek endlessly to keep up appearances, to say the right thing, to have the right possessions. In a way, it's like drug addiction. We're miserable without it. We have to keep taking it. And we have to struggle desperately to get it. I suppose the heaviest pressures come in adolescence. I was thinking of your story of the Maxwells. Certainly, adolescent conformity is strong because the need is strong. The youngsters growing physically and mentally. Life is complex and disturbing. He looks for security and a passionate identification with his group, but it's like the old chicken and egg business. Does the adult carry over conformity from adolescence or does the adolescent learn conformity from the adult? Perhaps a little of both. Certainly both need to belong. Well, let's give our audience a chance to judge the point. We're going to reenact another true incident as told to Dr. Bovard by the man concerned. This doesn't betray a confidence because again we've changed the names and identities. We're not suggesting that this situation is typical, nor do we pass any judgment on the actions or attitudes shown. Our only concern is how they relate to our subject, conformity. The Maxwells are an average couple living in average circumstances. They're quiet, conscientious people absorbed in their work, friends, and the welfare of their only child, Betty. Their life is calm and routine, but they had an unpleasant experience one evening recently. What a world. What a world. Bye now. Bye Mom. Don't be late. Just a moment, Betty. Come in here. You never stay in anymore. I'm just going to the movies. All the kids are going. Oh, are they all going dressed up like Hollywood stars? Oh, the bracelets. Dad, everybody wears them. Everybody? Who's everybody? All the kids in the crowd. The girls, I mean. You've got too much lipstick, dear. Wipe some off. And take off those earrings. Okay. Run along now. Goodbye, everybody. Bye-bye. Look here. Too much lipstick. Why, that kid isn't 14 yet. She shouldn't be wearing lipstick at all. And as for that Marilyn Monroe getup, really, Grace. Well, I know she is a little too young for these things, but what are you going to do? All her friends use lipstick. I know they're their clothes are far too sophisticated. But you you can't force the child to be different from the others. She's got to fit in with her group. Well, listen. Does she have to act like a blasé 25-year-old? They all act that way. And you know how important it is for the kids to be accepted. They're miserable if they're not popular. I know. I know, but it doesn't seem right. This being popular. Do you know what Mr. Patterson said to me today? "Maxwell," he said, "you know your job, but you've got to project more personality. You got to be more cheerful. Got to smile more." As if you can turn it on and off like a tap. Maybe he was hinting. Maybe you're in line for a promotion. Hm. Got to be more popular. Smile more. Well, there you are, you see? We're no different from the kids. We want to be accepted, be liked. Why, you take me. I've been working for weeks sewing for the hospital, just because Mrs. Lynch asked me to. Everybody does everything that Mrs. Lynch asks them to do. It's all right. Game of follow the leader. Come on, Kitty. Why are the lights out? You were dozing, dear. Oh. What time is it? It's almost 12:00. What? She should have been home an hour ago. Listen. I think that's her now. It's about time. Well, good night, Daddy. Good night. Hey, wait a minute. Shh. They're just upstairs. They'll hear us. How about saying good night properly? What do you mean? That's not the way I hear it. What do you mean? You're a real cuddly chick, a living, breathing doll. At least that's what Chuck and Brian say. Barry. You know the score. Come No. Patty. Yes, Dad? Go to bed, Patty. Dad, Mommy, all the kids kiss good night. It's not It's not really bad. All the girls do it. You have to, or you're a square. The boys won't take you out anywhere, or walk home with you, or or anything. Go to bed, Vinnie. I had no idea. No idea. All the kids kiss good night. All the kids go to the show, wear lipstick, kiss. Kiss. Hm. And this is being popular, being accepted, fitting in. That's not fair. Maybe not. What are we going to do about it? I don't know. Maybe I'd better phone Mrs. Trent and Mrs. Hamilton. What for? To ask if their 13-year-old girls are getting pawed by boys? And if they are, will that make it all right? Just because they're all doing it, will that make it right? You're blaming me for this, aren't you? No. I'm not. I'm blaming us, not her. It's our fault. We do it, too. We go along with our crowd, no matter what. With your Mrs. Lynch and and my Mr. Patterson, and all the other people that feel they have to fit in. And I'm missing this. All right, I'm tired. I'm going to bed. I need some sleep. I have to smile for Mr. Patterson in the morning. Well, what's the answer there? More discipline? Stricter rules? I don't think so. We've tried that in the past. It doesn't work. It's just another form of conformity. As a matter of fact, recent research shows that the most sensitive conscience is developed in a home atmosphere of love and understanding rather than harsh discipline. That's one answer. Another answer is that knowledge of social conformity pressure, such as we've been trying to give you here, helps to prevent its operation. But social conformity pressure's most formidable weapon is the need that everyone has to belong. The price the rebel pays is the sacrifice his precious feeling of belonging for what he believes in. Most of us aren't brave enough to pay such a price. To quote Brock Chisholm, we need the rebel. Well, thank you for joining me so neatly, Dr. Bovard. Right now, we're going to meet another champion of individualism. Dr. Brock Chisholm is going to sit in on these proceedings from a a We're going to his seaside home on the West Coast near Victoria, where he'll be interviewed by Gordon Burwash. For those of you who are not familiar with the career of this distinguished Canadian, you should know that he has expressed a lifetime concern for the welfare of society. As a practicing psychiatrist and as an educator and lecturer, until his recent retirement, he was head of the World Health Organization of the United Nations. Dr. Chisholm, what's your reaction to what we've had to say on the subject of conformity? Well, I agree that there's a trend to mass behavior and mass values, but I think it's much more than just a threat to the happiness of the individual. It's a threat to society. It's bad for society. It's bad for any society. As an obstacle to progress, you mean? Yes, it's it's negative. It it leads nowhere. See that big freighter out in the straits? That ship can sail a course precisely and safely, thanks to navigation instruments, detailed charts, and men who can use the charts and the instruments, and also think for themselves, meet emergencies, make decisions. Unfortunately, there are no precise charts for living. We're still going by dead reckoning, still facing a dangerous, unpredictable world. But how did we chart the sea? How did we acquire the act for sounders and radar and so on? These things were done by bold men with restless minds, wanted to explore and discover and invent, by individualists. How else can we chart this disturbed, anxious world of ours except by searching for answers to our problems? And who can best help us to do this? The type with the bold, restless mind, surely, the visionary, the rebel. Now, we live in an age of great anxiety, which affects us all. We face great problems and great dangers. It's natural for us to cling to familiar ways and old habits, and to feel disturbed by anyone who doesn't do the same. But if we turn our backs on the problems, if we resent anyone who insists we face them, we're doing nothing about our situation. Of course, the individualist, the rebel can be wrong. And absolute individualism would mean absolute anarchy, wouldn't it? Certainly. We have to tolerate a certain amount of error, and we need a degree of conformity. We have to agree for the common good to act in a certain way. But we can only find the truth through trial and error. We can only agree on sensible behavior through discussion and thought. This means the individual, however individualistic or eccentric, must have his say. Certainly the democratic way. Exactly. Exactly. Our whole tradition is one of respect for the integrity and the worth of the individual. If we destroy that to any degree, we can destroy ourselves, destroy our chances of finding our way out of this age of anxiety. Thank you, Dr. Chisholm. And you, Dr. Bovard, for joining us on Perspective and helping us as you have. Thank you. It's been a pleasure. This has been a brief time in which to discuss a very big and complex subject. I'm sure we've left much unsaid and unconsidered. Perhaps we can carry on at some future time. In any case, you might let us know what you think and where you agree or disagree. This is Fred Davis saying goodbye to you from Ottawa. Amen.