Dr. Todd Rose

And that belonging can lead to conformity when we feel like we have to distort who we are to get that belonging.

And if you don't mind, let me give you an example.

I'm going to tell you about what I think is my favorite study ever because I can't believe he got funded to do it.

A colleague of mine in the Netherlands back in 2009 was a little skeptical about this conformity, like how deep it really went.

And so he said, what's the most subjective thing I could possibly imagine and see if conformity exists there?

So he decided it was who you think is good looking.

Because look, beauty's in the eye of the beholder, right?

So, and there's no social pressure to be like, you should think they're attractive because I do.

So he does this clever study.

He puts people in fMRI scanners and he does a version of hot or not.

Really?

Like, this is why I can't believe he got funded.

He gets people, he shows them a couple hundred faces, and he asks them to rate them on their attractiveness from one to five.

One, no thank you.

Five being yes, please, right?

Which, by the way, you do that kind of stuff on the street, you're a creep.

You do it in a scanner, you're a scientist.

But here's what's wild.

So you're in that scanner, and you see a face, and you say, well, I think that's a five, pretty attractive.

What happens next is instantly you are shown another number, which is supposed to represent the average score of everyone who's done this task before you.