Look deeper into the concept of a "information cascade". Can you cite an example of where following the actions of others was a sound idea? Where doing so ended up being a poor choice?
The concept of a "information cascade" occurs "when people observe the actions of others and then make the same choice that the others have made (Wikipedia)." Most of the time, it's made by a rational decision. Information cascades usually occurs when people see other people make the same choice which provides evidence that outweighs one's own judgment. An example would be in 1989 in Leipzig, Germany. Small protests started with only a few activists challenging German Democratic Republic. Slowly, the size grew little by little but by the time the government attempted to address it, it was too big to squash. Later that year, over 400,000 people marched the streets of Leipzig and two days later the Berlin Wall was dismantled.
An example where the information cascade ended up being a poor choice would be any type of riot that leads to arrests, fires, injuries, deaths, etc. For example, back in March of 2010, University of Maryland students started a riot after winning one of their big basketball games against Duke. Hundreds of students and residents of the college park area crowded the streets, taking down street signs, climbing stop lights, etc. The riot police were called in and had to use shields, batons, rubber bullets, etc, anything to contain the crowd. People were arrested and injured throughout the riot. The riot started because a small group of people decided to crowd the street and chant UMD songs and other people joined in, soon collecting hundreds of people on Route 1. However, this is an example of how information cascade ended up being a poor choice because of the arrests and the injuries that resulted from the riot.
Therefore, "information cascade" can bring both positive and negative consequences to a situation. It all depends on the situation and what comes from it.
Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_cascade
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