I think most people figure they’ll clap until the applause dies down. But if everyone were to think like that we would clap forever. How does the audience hive mind, for lack of a better term, stop the applause?
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To the best of my understanding it works similar to the purchase and selling of stocks. Everyone just has a general sense of how long an applause should last (how much value a particular stock has). If enough people stop clapping this causes other people to change how they feel; now they feel that enough time has passed and they also stop. With stocks, if enough people start selling quickly enough than it gives other people the impression that their stocks are losing value so they also sell.
Your hypothetical situation is correct; if you had enough independent thinkers in a crowd who decided they wouldn’t stop clapping then I guarantee other people would join in. Similarly in the stock market if you have enough people who believe strongly enough in the value of a stock to keep it than other people will catch on and the perceived value will be higher.
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