Why some people can't resist crowds despite the pandemic

Blame evolution for our compulsion to socialize even with the risk of COVID-19.

On their way to participate in a Black Lives Matter protest in early June in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Jodyann and her fiancée drove past table after table of people dining at outdoor cafés. Despite stay-at-home orders, Milwaukee’s streets were crowded with protesters who wanted to make their voices heard against police brutality, and with diners taking in a leisurely meal. Both were risking their health by exposing themselves to others.

“The pandemic situation alone makes you not want to be out in a space with thousands of other people,” says Jodyann, a Black woman who has participated in a handful of protests this year. For Jodyann and many other protesters, making a difference to society is worth the risk. But, with the

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