Through evolution, humans have become social creatures. It's beneficial to communicate and collaborate with others to achieve things that aren’t possible alone. But as the nature of groups of people changed, so did the dynamics of these groups and the people in them. Group dynamics define a significant part of our identity and our choices because it's easier to conform to an established identity than to think differently. And this can have detrimental effects for a society in the long run.
Everyone holds beliefs, but an inherent part of having an opinion is disagreeing with the opposite, which is difficult without a group to support you. Humans have evolved to antagonize “out-group” individuals. This is from a primal need to protect their scarce resources from other people who are fighting for them. As human thought and technology evolved, people naturally did the same thing with ideas rather than resources. Protecting their ideas involves fighting with the mass of people that disagrees with them. When someone branches out and tries to find an identity for themselves that's different from established ideas, social currents push them back. When so many people think the same way, it's difficult for people to resist thinking that way. Doing something that has been tried and accepted is easier than doing something novel and unique. People need to accept themselves, and having a group of people accept them is an easy way to do that. Once in such a group, it becomes difficult to go against their thoughts and decisions.
The effect of this social dynamic is that many people are heavily influenced by a group they are a part of. A prime example of this is in adolescent communities such as high schools. A warning sign for high school drug usage is having friends that also engage in these activities. The group of friends makes it easier to defend drug usage and counteract the social currents discouraging it. But these social currents are another example of group influence on an individual. Certain intervention programs have targeted social reinforcement of “delinquent” behavior. The lack of social reinforcement changed the social norm and influenced the school as a whole to discourage such immoral behavior and increase accountability. This change in the school’s overall perception on “delinquent” behavior had a significant effect on most people in the group. Having lots of people under the influence of a single group makes it easy to mobilize and, in some cases, manipulate the members of the group. But, not all groups are structured in this way, and a group is structured around competition and individualism, progress expedites. This is seen in the development of capitalist nations, where individual incentive has driven mass competition which has led to the development of technologies that significantly improve the lives of many in the group. This is a stark contrast to communist regimes, where political oppression and silencing encourages “groupthink,” preventing progress. While people are heavily influenced by the group they are a part of, this influence can be effectively manipulated to mobilize a group to rapid progress or mindless submission.
Overall, group behavior and choices can almost define an individual's identity, and it becomes easier to change when they change, do what they do, and think what they think. This tendency can be manipulated to have both beneficial and harmful effects, and through this constant manipulation it becomes difficult to separate individual thinking from group thinking. But do we really need to identify what thinking is truly ours?
Well, we probably do. Discrimination is clearly a big problem in modern-day society, not because most people are racist or sexist, but because the culture has been ingrained into our society by a dark history of discrimination and a select few people that continue to actively perpetuate it today. Gladwell makes a similar argument in his book Revenge of the Tipping Point. He refers to this phenomenon as the “Magic Third,” where if a minority comprises less than a third of a community, they will naturally have a hard time having their voices reflected by group decisions. Many describe Gladwell’s arguments to be unfounded. It is not my place to judge his arguments, but I think that notion of a “Magic Third” is an oversimplification of the various factors at play. But the “Magic Third” helps allude to what's really going on: group acceptance.
Having enough of a minority in a group makes it easier to accept the presence and ideas of that minority, strength in numbers so-to-speak. Dashka Slater reveals a lot more about this phenomena in her book Accountable, the story of a high school friend groups’ racist Instagram account. The reason the account, which racistly depicted black peers, was condoned by each member of the friend group was because all other members did the same. While followers of the Instagram account had black friends who they knew would be hurt, these black friends were inherently a minority and finding acceptance from the racist majority was more fulfilling and meaningful. But, this is true for many high school students, so what makes this situation unique? The tipping point for this event is the inherent power dynamic of the group, where people in power condoned racism for comedic effect. But it could only get this far because everyone desired group attention and respect.
Understanding which of our thoughts are being governed by a group we are a part of can help us avoid perpetuating harmful ideologies that persist in that group. But, by intentionally fighting racism in our community, aren't we seeking acceptance from a group of antiracists? Why is that not the same thing?
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