Human Reactions

So I just had to share this. I took a psychology course in college, and the very first day proved to be very interesting. As students began filling up the classroom, the professor was nowhere in sight. Five minutes went by, and then ten. Many of us began comparing notes: "This is Psych 202, right?" "Yeah, I think so." Fifteen minutes went by and a lot of students were thinking of leaving. All of a sudden, a woman who had been sitting quietly near the front of the room got out of her chair and went to the blackboard and turned around. "So," she said, "Are you all planning on leaving?" Some mumbled yes, others weren't quite sure what to do. "Well, go ahead and sit down. I am the professor," she said. "Isn't it amazing how people react when things don't go the way they expect them to?" Basically, she was studying our actions and watching how we were dealing with this unexpected event. A small event, sure, but she got her point across, which was that human beings tend to react in very similar ways when confronted with unusual happenings.

Which led me to this post. I found this at www.improveverywhere.com, and just had to share it.
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On a cold Saturday in New York City, the world’s largest train station came to a sudden halt. Over 200 Improv Everywhere Agents froze in place at the exact same second for five minutes in the Main Concourse of Grand Central Station. Over 500,000 people rush through Grand Central every day, but today, things slowed down just a bit as commuters and tourists alike stopped to notice what was happening around them.

Comments

Victoria said…
This is terrific! Thanks so much for sharing. I would have been freaked to see it while it was happening, thinking it was some sort of alien invasion, pod people sort of thing going on! Loved the guy on his walkie-talkie asking for help, then everyone just starts moving... " um, never mind" Brilliant!

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