Majorities don’t just rule, they influence, even—and maybe especially—local majorities. More recent research has also found that the effect extends to three degrees of social distance. So it is not only those we know well, but the friends of our friend’s friends affect how we think and behave, even for health issues like obesity and smoking.

However, Asch also showed that including one or two dissenters in the group drastically brought down the pressure to conform, which creates an urge to stamp out dissent. This presents a dilemma: Enforcing strict adherence to ideology makes for a more cohesive and passionate movement, but it can also make it hard to achieve anything of significance.

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That’s why the true face of revolution always looks more like The Good Wife than it does Homeland. It is not the passion and fervor of the zealots that create change, but when everyone else joins their cause. When accountants and marketing managers start taking to the streets, you know you have something.

So you can see the delicate balancing act that movements must perform. First, they need to create an environment of local majority similar to those in Asch’s studies in order to preserve ideological continuity. Yet they also must make inroads to those in the mainstream who are more resistant to the idea, if the movement is ever to grow and affect change..