Groupthink is more prevalent than ever, and it’s taking us into dangerous territories.
Discovered by Yale University research psychologist Irving Janis, groupthink is the phenomenon where people tend to agree with their peers or with the widely held consensus on a topic, even when it goes against what all evidence and logic is telling them. Essentially, it is herd or pack mentality. It renders people incapable or unwilling to think for themselves, question their beliefs, or voice disagreement. Sometimes this is done out of fear of rocking the boat, other times it is done to fit in.
Even when offered copious amounts of evidence that the majority is wrong, people dismiss or ignore it and side with the established consensus view. Those who succumb to groupthink don’t raise controversial issues or offer alternative ideas or solutions. They nearly entirely lose their ability to exercise independent thinking.
History is riddled with examples of groupthink, and sometimes it causes death and destruction, usually as the result of state-sanctioned violence.
The Iraq War
Take for example the Iraq War. The prevailing narrative was that Saddam Hussein was developing weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). The US therefore needed to invade Iraq to stop him. Never mind that there was never any real evidence that he was doing this.
Consequently, nearly every American politician went along with the proposal to invade Iraq, and the mainstream press unquestioningly followed. Even the prime minister of the UK, Tony Blair, followed the US into Iraq due to this foreign policy groupthink.
Most of the US media were pushing the war propaganda down the public’s throat before the actual invasion. Unfortunately, any news anchors or journalists who criticized or questioned the West’s Iraq foreign policy were fired. The consequences for the people of Iraq, and the soldiers sent to fight there, were far worse.
Religion
Another obvious example of groupthink is religion. The vast majority of religious people subscribe to the religion that their family our country subscribes to. Essentially nobody reads every religious text out there and then decides which one to follow. Instead, people tend to stick to the religion they were born into.
The Lockdowns
Look at the current Covid-19 lockdowns as well. Most people favor lockdowns not because they’ve evaluated the evidence for and against them and have decided they are necessary. No, they favor them because that is the majority consensus and now the government’s standard operating procedure, and people tend to trust the consensus. Unfortunately, the economy cannot simply be paused, and these lockdowns will inevitably cause more damage the more they are used.
Over 6,000 scientists have warned against continuing using lockdowns as a method of controlling the virus over public health concerns. These include mental health, domestic abuse, drug and alcohol abuse, and missed healthcare treatments for other diseases such as cancers. Unfortunately, the groupthink has been established: Anyone who argues that continued lockdowns are doing more harm than good is anti-science, a Covid denier, and only cares about the economy.
Solutions to Groupthink?
So, how do we fix this problem? Well, a good start would be to teach philosophy, psychology, and critical thinking earlier in school. I wasn’t introduced to these subjects until college, which is a little late to be introduced to such important subjects if you ask me. If we taught the youth how to think, rather than what to think, then our political situation would likely be better.
Feel free to leave any thoughts or questions in the comment section.