Volume 5 · The Great Indian Bazaar · Essay 306

Yerkes-Dodson Law

They call it a law, though no parliament passed it. Yerkes-Dodson Law is a law of behaviour, and it enforces itself.

Laws of this kind are really observations that refused to go away. Enough people bumped into the same wall that someone finally painted a sign. This page is the sign.

Every colony has a notice board and a gossip channel. The notice board informs; the channel decides. Wise residents read the first and audit the second.

Society is a long conversation; the only question is whether you are listening or merely waiting to speak. You will meet this idea again this week, wearing different clothes. Now you will recognise it.