Imagine you’re a college student walking across campus one night. You see a group of your peers stumbling around drunk, yelling and making a scene. You think to yourself — I wish they wouldn’t act like this, it’s embarrassing. But you don’t say anything.
In fact, none of the bystanders say anything. Everyone just shakes their head and walks on.
The next morning, you talk to some friends who were there. Come to find out — they ALL felt the same way you did. No one approved of the behavior. But because no one spoke up, everyone assumed the rest condoned it.