I came across an interesting theory while listening to a conversation between two comedians on a podcast. This was a conversation of two very intelligent people and they began discussing a theory that was novel to me called the 85/10/5 theory.
So the theory says that you can divide the population of the world into 3 groups, which you’ve guessed are 85/10/5%. The 85% largely go along with whatever is happening in the world. They participate in society without giving much thought to why we operate in the way we do, why society is structured this way, or what possible alternatives there could be.
The 10% are those that use this knowledge to try to manipulate the 85% for their own personal benefit. I’d argue that most well-known people fit into this group. Think of the titans of business, media or entertainment figures, social media influencers, and most certainly politicians as being in this 10%. Not everyone that is in this group is in it solely for the purpose of self-enrichment, but I’d say there is a good argument that most of them are.
The 5% are those that recognize the tendencies and trust of the 85%, but also recognize the nefarious attempts by the 10% to manipulate and take advantage of the 85%. These people actively try to undo the actions of the 10%, or at the very least provide alternatives to what the 10% is doing. The most successful and prominent examples of these are people like Martin Luther King, Jr., Malala Yousafzai, Nelson Mandela, Greta Thunberg, and Mahatma Gandhi to name a few.
These people provided an alternative vision of society and succeeded in getting the 85% to notice and shift. They do this through strict adherence to a personal constitution that requires tremendous sacrifice. It requires that they stand strong in the face of power. Speaking truth to power is perhaps the most difficult thing for an individual to do. To gain traction with the population at large in such an endeavor is so rare that only a few have been able to successfully do so. Those listed above are contemporary and easily recognizable examples, though I want to be careful to not diminish anyone else’s efforts in only recognizing the few that I have. There are countless people that work towards this everyday and we’ll likely never know their names, but we all experience their collective work.
The crux of all this, as you have likely already surmised, is that the 10% will always outnumber the 5%. What’s more is that the 5% is always disadvantaged because they are trying to shift society in order to increase the quality of life for the 85%. The opportunist 10% are largely just selling back to the 85% a repackaging of what they already have, and pandering to existing tastes or sentimentalities. Very few, if any, novel ideas are generated in this 10% population. Go to any 24-hour news organization’s site or station and you’ll see the 10% in action in real-time.
When run through my filter here is what I’ve taken away from this theory. The 85% are the people not predisposed towards fully-examining their lives. They are quite content and comfortable following the path that has been set before them. They are quick to follow the rules of the society without much thought. This type of person is encouraged to continue on this path by most of the other 85% because most of us are the 85%. It is much easier to assimilate to societal standards and norms than it is to buck them.
It also means that one will have plenty of company. 85% is a pretty hefty chunk of the population. It is likely that those in the 85% will share a lot of similar interests and enjoy many of the same activities. Nowadays being part of the ‘herd’ is misconstrued as being ignorant or easily manipulated. This mentality usually being held by those with silly shirts or bumper stickers that say funny things like ‘lions not sheep’ or something similar. If only those lions knew how many sheep it took to make them think they were lions.
While I do believe that the 85% is easily led by the 10% or 5%, I do not believe it is because of some lack of character or intelligence by the 85%. Our goal as animals on this planet is to pass our genes on to the next generation. We can speak of our personal goals like getting promoted, finding meaning, becoming more mindful, etc., but biologically our only goal is to pass on our genes. Passing on genes has never had much to do with ‘Truth’ or anything even like objective reality, if such things even really exist. The best way for humans, like many other animals, to pass on their genes is to be part of the herd.
Upon hearing this we will all have a knee-jerk reaction as to what group we belong. I’d assume most of us would like to think of ourselves as part of the 5%, but that likely isn’t true. Some of us may fear, or possibly even embrace, thinking of ourselves as the 10%, but that likely isn’t true either. Most of us are part of the 85%. We don’t have much influence or control over the external factors that dictate most of our lives. But let us not allow that to cloud what I think is actually most valuable about this theory.
At first we may be a little bummed that we aren’t part of the 5%, but we can choose to differentiate between the 5%ers and the 10%ers. We can continue to float the main stream, but with a heightened awareness of those in the public sphere. We can approach our attention habits with a bit more scrutiny. Trying to determine if the person we are giving our attention has the goal of self-enrichment and further consolidation of power as their goal – or – if that person’s goal is to provide us information that can lead to a more inclusive and healthier society.
I appreciate your attention and hope you’ve found value in this.
Thanks for reading and please take care of each other.
Billy's Briefs 