Groupthink is one of the logical fallacies; it is the argumentum ad populum. The more people that believe a thing, the more true it is. Completely irrational way to think, but our society depends on it. Just imagine what the world would be like if people did not think in groups: there would be no fads, no trends, no marketing based on demographics. No Red State / Blue State politics. Here's a specific example: I was arguing on another site about whether God exists. (I was arguing that He does.) My opponent was an atheist, and he made the point that because there isn't sufficient empirical evidence for the existence of God, that disbelief is the norm, and belief is the aberration. To counter this, I pointed to statistics that show that over 90% of people in the United States believe in God, so that BELIEF is the norm. I needed to remember that saying "most people disagree with you" is NOT a logical argument, but it was very tempting to say nonetheless.Orwell put it in an interesting way; in 1984, Winston Smith notes that "sanity is statistical."
Groupthink is one of the logical fallacies; it is the argumentum ad populum. The more people that believe a thing, the more true it is. Completely irrational way to think, but our society depends on it. Just imagine what the world would be like if people did not think in groups: there would be no fads, no trends, no marketing based on demographics. No Red State / Blue State politics. Here's a specific example: I was arguing on another site about whether God exists. (I was arguing that He does.) My opponent was an atheist, and he made the point that because there isn't sufficient empirical evidence for the existence of God, that disbelief is the norm, and belief is the aberration. To counter this, I pointed to statistics that show that over 90% of people in the United States believe in God, so that BELIEF is the norm. I needed to remember that saying "most people disagree with you" is NOT a logical argument, but it was very tempting to say nonetheless.Orwell put it in an interesting way; in 1984, Winston Smith notes that "sanity is statistical."
They can think for themselves... But often they simply choose the most comfortable idea for them. Even if it is wrong or harmful.
Are you saying that people can't think for themselves? If so, I agree! hehehe