25th
Lights Off: A Social Experiment
I had a study session for a fairly difficult class last night from 7-9pm. Given that we were all in the same class at 8am that morning, only half the class showed up, most with coffee in hand.
Anyway, I got there first which was just after the sun had set, so it was dark in the room. I was about a half-hour early because I wanted to finish something on my laptop before the session kicked off, so I left the lights off.
About 6:50 the next student showed up, a guy I know from the class. He asked, and we both agreed that the lights were fine in the off position. We shot the shit a bit waiting for more people to get there. The next person who showed up gave us a weird look, but didn’t touch the light switch. He sat on the other side of the room from us.
The fifth person arrived and asked why the lights were off; when we shrugged at him he too just sat down. Now it was a game.
I claimed to my friend and kid #4 (who sat within earshot) that the pressure to leave the lights off upon entering was a function of the number of people in the room. With every person who didn’t, it was harder for the next person to perform the simple act of flipping a switch on the way in. Some kids walked in later, reached for the switch instinctively, but held back after seeing the number of people already in the room.
Sure enough, when the teacher showed up to a half-full classroom of 26 kids at five after, the room was still dark.
Peer pressure is a funny thing, eh?