The title of this blog comes from a Gaelic expression -"putting on the poor mouth"-which means to exaggerate the direness of one's situation in order to gain time or favour from creditors.
20 January 2010
The Asch Experiment
This experiment on conformity was originally conducted by Solomon Asch in the 1950s. While not as spectacular as the famous Milgran experiment it makes uneasy viewing in its own way
I doubt they would get me, Jams. I'm anti-sheep. Even if the group would choose the right answer, I probably would say the contrary, just to be difficult. Not if it's evil, of course. But then, maybe to be anti-conformist is as sick as to be a follower. Who knows???????
Another contrarian here! But even among those of us who stubbornly think for ourselves, there are situations where social pressure is difficult to resist. As well as group pressure, expectation also plays an under-acknowledged role in perception. These forces say a lot about what passes for consensus "reality", and their consequences are of course infamous.
7 comments:
I doubt they would get me, Jams. I'm anti-sheep. Even if the group would choose the right answer, I probably would say the contrary, just to be difficult. Not if it's evil, of course. But then, maybe to be anti-conformist is as sick as to be a follower. Who knows???????
I would hope not either but conformity is a powerful urge and few can swim against it. It's fun to be contrary though, eh?
Another contrarian here! But even among those of us who stubbornly think for ourselves, there are situations where social pressure is difficult to resist. As well as group pressure, expectation also plays an under-acknowledged role in perception. These forces say a lot about what passes for consensus "reality", and their consequences are of course infamous.
I saw written on a blog: Sometimes, a majority means that all the fools are on the same side.
Very true Stan. It takes a lot to swim agains thte tide
Haha Claudia I like it
Thanks, Jams, I was ignorant of this (as of many other things, surely). Wow...
It is such a simple but telling experiment. Glad you found it fascinating Snoopy!
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