The dangers of groupthink
December 2, 2008 History, Politics
President-elect Obama today noted,
After announcing Clinton and the rest of his national security team, Obama said he was sure that team members shared “a core vision of what’s needed to keep the American people safe,” but he also wanted “strong personalities and strong opinions” in his administration.
“I think that’s how the best decisions are made,” Obama said. “One of the dangers in the White House, based on my reading of history, is that you get wrapped up in groupthink, and everybody agrees with everything, and there is no discussion and there are no dissenting views.”
I wonder how far back in history he had to go to find such a problem…
2 comments
Groupthink is not by itself the problem, the problem is intellectual tunnelvision when under pressure. As pressure mounts, people more readily tell others that there’s no other way, the options are limited, and we have to do (this) and people hearing it are more receptive to discarding their viewpoints towards alternatives.
Thinking for oneself is involuntary, but one can also choose to not think, and often does without even thinking why or how based on emotional states. Pressure such as fear of failure, fear of looking bad, that can cause this effect of artificial lessening of alternative courses of action.
It applies to government, religious organizations, and many other arrangements of humans.
Title: When Is group think dangerous?
Time: Friday 06/05/2009 06:00 PM EDT
Episode Notes: Do you have a belief, or an idea that is popular with many people? Would you die for that idea, or belief? What would you do if someone disagreed with you?
http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/23980
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