Groupthink

Reposted from another forum

For those who've never heard of Groupthink before, it is a psychological term, used to describe a group of people for whom the desire to conform with the group is so great, that they make irrational decisions. The group could be an organisation, a group of students working on a project together, a country, even an internet forum.

One of the symptoms of groupthink, is an illusion of morality. Members begin to view the group and their decisions as standing on the ethical high ground. As long as all the members conform and agree, then they are ethically correct. They stop questioning and challenging.

I suggest here, that humans have an inbuilt sense of right and wrong. Is it possible that our inbuilt sense of right and wrong, is a desire to conform and belong? And that if we agree with everyone else, we can feel satisfied that we are acting morally, even though this may not be the case. The acceptance of slavery by our ancestors 150 years ago is a good example.

So 3 Questions;

1) Do we have groupthink at KMC?

2) Do the Mods have groupthink?

3) Do you worry how people on KMC think about you?

Sounds interesting.JM

Originally posted by whirlysplat
3) Do you worry how people on KMC think about you?

I'm only concerned about how 3 or 4 specific users think because I talk and trade posts with them so much. After that, nope!

Well, I'm not a psychology expert and I've never heard of the official term GroupThink, but I can tell you a certain type of thread that raises a red flag when dealing with this subject:

Threads with articles like:

"Man molests 4-year old!"
or
"Stepfather drowns kids, then smacks wife"
or
"Woman sells children for heroin money"

Get my drift?

i think its a shadey issue.
of coarse there are cliques at KMC who seem to agree and bicker on the side of others when they normally wouldnt give a shit. however, 'group think' is also a copout label which is sometimes applied when others tend to have the similar ideals. there are a couple of members here who i tend to mostly agree with on certain issues. at the same time, i wont hesitate to express my disagreement to those very same people should a difference in opinion arise.

Originally posted by Jackie Malfoy
Sounds interesting.JM

thanks so much for that. very enlightening.
i think that about wraps up this discussion.
maybe a thread closing should be requested, since
this is now obviously a dead issue.

So do you think we conform on KMC due to this Groupthink your posts imply exists?

Originally posted by PVS
thanks so much for that. very enlightening.
i think that about wraps up this discussion.
maybe a thread closing should be requested, since
this is now obviously a dead issue.

I needed a good laugh before the end of the day. Thanks, dude.

Uh, oh. This isn't a trap, is it?

You know, one of those threads about a certain form of Internet psychology where 4 pages into the thread all of the members will be displaying forms of the topic (GroupThink in this case) of discussion?

Originally posted by whirlysplat
So do you think we conform on KMC due to this Groupthink your posts imply exists?

i dont think i do. maybe on a subconscious level, who knows.
i believe that some will actually conform to their clique.

im not sure if thats an answerable question though.

A mechanism to avoid groupthink consists of constantly questioning decisions, applied to a discussion, questioning arguments/motives. I mostly notice this in the GDF, Religion Forum and the Philosophy Forum. I' m inclined to say that those members, when they agree, genuinely agree and not merely to conform.

Originally posted by botankus
Uh, oh. This isn't a trap, is it?

You know, one of those threads about a certain form of Internet psychology where 4 pages into the thread all of the members will be [b]displaying forms of the topic (GroupThink in this case) of discussion? [/B]

😖hifty: That would be devious woudn't it? 😖hifty:

Originally posted by whirlysplat
a group of people for whom the desire to conform with the group is so great, that they make irrational decisions.

Someone else think this statement is stupid for the one reason that they said why it actually is a rational decisions....becaus ethe desire is so great.....

An Irrational Decision is a Decision that no has no rational explaination...thisa does though....

Originally posted by Bardock42
Someone else think this statement is stupid for the one reason that they said why it actually is a rational decisions....becaus ethe desire is so great.....

An Irrational Decision is a Decision that no has no rational explaination...thisa does though....

So it does but its rationally relies on external observation🙂 The outcome of this rationality can be deviant in nature🙂

Originally posted by Bardock42
Someone else think this statement is stupid for the one reason that they said why it actually is a rational decisions....becaus ethe desire is so great.....

An Irrational Decision is a Decision that no has no rational explaination...thisa does though....

?????????????

Originally posted by whirlysplat
So it does but its rationally relies on external observation🙂 The outcome of this rationality can be deviant in nature🙂

Not really.....its rational all the way through........people from the outside understand why a peson behaves that way...and for the person itself although it might not be obvious it is still rational because they see the group as more important as most other things....

Originally posted by Bardock42
Not really.....its rational all the way through........people from the outside understand why a peson behaves that way...and for the person itself although it might not be obvious it is still rational because they see the group as more important as most other things....

Yes indeed they see the group as more important than most things.

Do you see that here my friend?

Originally posted by whirlysplat
Yes indeed they see the group as more important than most things.

Do you see that here my friend?

Not really......I wouldn't know what groups there are on KMC.......the only thing want is that botankus doesn't take me serious......which he obviously doesn't ( I am a goal achiever...)...😛

OK what then do you see the point of your posts being?

🙂

Originally posted by whirlysplat
Reposted from another forum

For those who've never heard of Groupthink before, it is a psychological term, used to describe a group of people for whom the desire to conform with the group is so great, that they make irrational decisions. The group could be an organisation, a group of students working on a project together, a country, even an internet forum.

One of the symptoms of groupthink, is an illusion of morality. Members begin to view the group and their decisions as standing on the ethical high ground. As long as all the members conform and agree, then they are ethically correct. They stop questioning and challenging.

I suggest here, that humans have an inbuilt sense of right and wrong. Is it possible that our inbuilt sense of right and wrong, is a desire to conform and belong? And that if we agree with everyone else, we can feel satisfied that we are acting morally, even though this may not be the case. The acceptance of slavery by our ancestors 150 years ago is a good example.

So 3 Questions;

1) Do we have groupthink at KMC?

2) Do the Mods have groupthink?

3) Do you worry how people on KMC think about you?

Since Groupthink is like "The thing" of my social psychology professor I know quite a bit about it, still am no expert at it far from that.

Now the questions:

1) No not KMC as a whole atleast, probably smaller groups of users have groupthink among themselves. Eventho Groupthink might be potentially dangerous it is very common in small "isolated" groups. I for one know it happened in my friends group in highschool. Actually I'm wondering if a psychologist ever did a study about that, would be neat.

2) Well from personal experience I have to say NO The mods are among the most sceptical and questioning members on KMC. I think Raz gets more flame from his mods than from normal members. (Atleast it was like that back when I saw a mod)

3) I think everyone does at some point, even if it is only from a selection of members. Personally I care about what a few people think of me. It used to be more people but it stopped for some reason.

Originally posted by Fire
Since Groupthink is like "The thing" of my social psychology professor I know quite a bit about it, still am no expert at it far from that.

Now the questions:

1) No not KMC as a whole atleast, probably smaller groups of users have groupthink among themselves. Eventho Groupthink might be potentially dangerous it is very common in small "isolated" groups. I for one know it happened in my friends group in highschool. Actually I'm wondering if a psychologist ever did a study about that, would be neat.

2) Well from personal experience I have to say [b]NO The mods are among the most sceptical and questioning members on KMC. I think Raz gets more flame from his mods than from normal members. (Atleast it was like that back when I saw a mod)

3) I think everyone does at some point, even if it is only from a selection of members. Personally I care about what a few people think of me. It used to be more people but it stopped for some reason. [/B]

Do you ever play to an "audience" on here? or feel you have something to "live up to" Fire?