The metaphor of the herd is based on the reality of human development in its current state of diminished capacity. Unbeknownst to the mass of men, human birth is not a one-stage process, but two. Those who only undergo the first stage are only partially formed. They are sightless, featureless juveniles with no ability to operate in the world. In order to survive, they congeal into a single writhing mass: The Herd.