A social experiment

[Os3y3ris]

This winter I will be undertaking a social experiment. Is it possible to grow and develop a group with no initial members, no direct contact with potential members, and no instructions? For this particular experiment, I plan on introducing to my area a small, nonexistent gang. Once enough of the population is convinced that this gang is real, I plan on observing police, community and gang reactions to its presence. The next phase, in theory, is tracking new membership, despite not recruiting, initiating, or contacting in any direct way, those coming in.

I'm expecting people to react as if the gang were real at first and then make it real, as those looking for such an entity declare themselves members.

[Black Man]

Originally Posted by Os3y3ris

This winter I will be undertaking a social experiment. Is it possible to grow and develop a group with no initial members, no direct contact with potential members, and no instructions? For this particular experiment, I plan on introducing to my area a small, nonexistent gang. Once enough of the population is convinced that this gang is real, I plan on observing police, community and gang reactions to its presence. The next phase, in theory, is tracking new membership, despite not recruiting, initiating, or contacting in any direct way, those coming in.

I'm expecting people to react as if the gang were real at first and then make it real, as those looking for such an entity declare themselves members.

Now that's an experiment. Keep a good journal because if it works, you got a book in the making followed by a movie deal.

[frosted592]

How do you plan on making people believing in this gang?

[Prolifical ENG]

OMG thats awsome!

[Prolifical ENG]

I guess the hard part is the way you convince the people. if you do it wrong, they may think that its you and you get into trouble.

[Strange Fruit]

ah but,,, man fears man itself. because all
have the ability of higher power.
hearsay owns. people just dont know it.
and to use the mind as the tool,,,,?
{my god you are genius}
the idea is amazing. and no better way
to do it.

good luck with that.
keep this thread updated.

[Os3y3ris]

How do you plan on making people believing in this gang?

First of all, hearsay, both in person and over the internet. Second, I plan on scattering traditional signs of their passage such as well placed grafitti. These are the basic seeds that I believe are needed to make the idea grow.

Now, it will be a thin line to walk to avoid forming this entity MYSELF, but I think so long as I only present ideas, and take no real ACTION, that I'll be able to avoid being involved to any depth that would ruin the experiment. What I'll be presenting to the public is essentially the skeleton of this organization. They'll see tell-tale signs that it exists, yet in reality, there will be nothing beneath the surface. I'm expecting someone else to step in and flesh it out of their own accord, until the point where we have individuals acting in accordance with this nonexistant gang and its unstated ideals.

Right now the only confirmed manifestations of this gang will be wild rumors and grafitti, which represent outside conceptions hinting at reality and internal ideology hinting at reality. Thats all I plan on putting into it. The rest, society will provide.

My purpose is to understand the basic behavior and spread of both groups and ideas in this society. I thought of that in studying the spread and evolution of actual gangs and their ideas, despite the presence of no actual gangsters. I believe that a group exist outside of the material world and in the realm of ideas and can activate itself without an member, so long as the idea exists. This experiment will be taking a less extreme stance, but still leaning in that direction. If this pans out, that I plan on taking to another level and materializing a group from utter and acknowledged fiction without even the hint of reality.

[Os3y3ris]

Anyways, I'll have a myspace up shortly to track the progress, though it won't be too detailed, lest I ruin the experiment. The basic concept will be solidified and defined within a week and a definite procedure will be layed out. Right now its all in the basic conceptual stages, as its a rather large scale experiment.

[diggy]

Question?

By pretending to have a gang and seeing if people are influenced by it, and how the police react, etc. are you not just encouraging negative behavior if people are convinced?

Doesn't this experiment say alot about you willing to use people as pawns for your experiment not caring about the potential negative effects of it?

[Os3y3ris]

All I'm doing is presenting an idea. What they do with it is their own doing. I don't see it as any more harmful than say, a violent wu tang track. They present an idea. If I take it up and go shoot someone, thats on me.

Besides, I'm not a mad scientist. Only one person has EVER been killed due to gang activity in the area I plan on studying. To ensure that it stays that way, I control the gangs in the area anyways.