Cicadas and Collective Behavior

Ep 8 

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3igjccJ

Cicadas are so unathletic and unimpressive that they need a weird adaptation to survive. That adaptation is power in numbers. When they emerge, there are far too many of them for predators to eat them all. Also, they aren't above ground for long enough for preditors to adapt and focus solely on them.

Humans do something similar in large groups or mobs. Think of the infamous Malice at the palace or the capitol riots. In those cases, there are going to be some people who participated just passively enough to get away with it because the authorities just can't possible get them all.