Short answer:
Because they do, and that’s enough.
Long answer:
The power in a group lies with the majority.
Consider a group of 100 people – 60 is a majority.
Within that 60, 35 can dominate the 25.
Of 35, 20 could cooperate … and so on.
The maths is dull, so I’ll skip some steps – but as the total numbers get smaller, so does the number needed for a majority.
Eventually we get down 3 people, where 2 allies might sway the other 1.
And so from our group of 100 people, we are left with just 2 …
If we choose to, we can influence the world around us – starting with just one other person. If we decide to do this, we also get to decide how we use our influence. There is a difference between coercion – control, domination, pressure … and collaboration – teaming up, cooperation, allying.
Is it ‘1 v 1’?
Or ‘1 + 1’?
This is – of course – an over-simplification. It doesn’t work like this in real life, because people are more than just numbers. Bringing groups together to work towards something is messy and complex, and takes time and effort.
But it does start with one person talking to another person.
What if we decide to be one of those two people?
[And what if, when we work back up the scale, we don’t stop at 100?]
