To Conform Or Not Conform
A famous conformity experiment developed by Solomon Asch in the 1950s, provides stunning evidence of our willingness to follow the crowd, despite the evidence of our own eyes.
Social proof, a powerful force in molding behavior, has become a political tool, amplified by social media, mainstream media and academia. But there’s a simple remedy also revealed in the Asch conformity experiments that requires action by only one person — you. “What’s happening in our society today, is that these loudspeakers of social media–mainstream media, politics, all of it–are blaring stories at us so consistently and so loudly, and bombarding us with all that we know to be insane, that we start thinking we must be nuts or just want to get along.”
In the Asch experiment, the test subject folds to peer pressure and agrees with the group, denying what he really sees. But when another subject is added who agrees with him, it changes everything. Whittle explains further.
