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Monday, October 20. 2008

Groupthink: Normative and Informational Conformity

The article in Zombietime, The Left's Big Blunder, is about the famous Asch experiments on conformity.

Obama supporters presume that increasing Obama's perceived support will induce informational conformity in the American public. In other words, Obama supporters operate on the assumption that individual McCain supporters or undecided voters will in actuality change their minds about who to vote for if they perceive that a majority of people are supporting Obama. The imagined line of thinking is, "Gee, if so many people like this Obama guy, then my impression of him must be wrong; I trust the group's wisdom more than my own impressions."

I suppose the Dems' efforts to portray Obama as inevitable and wildly popular are an effort to exploit the conformist tendencies in people, but this seems rather usual in politics. However, the article offers a good depiction of how conformity can distort our thinking and cause us to doubt ourselves and our lyin' eyes. 

The desire to fit in and to be accepted is strong in all of us. It's important for survival, but we need to try to make room for thinking for ourselves too, based on our experience and not on received opinion.

Posted by The Barrister in Fallacies and Logic at 20:40 | Comments (6) | Trackbacks (0)

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O/T
Meta , I've posted this here thinking the perhaps Monday's thread might get nudged into the pile. You:
"Habu,

I heard Cavuto talking about a secular bear market. My first thought was it was the kind of bear market that was so bad people gave up praying over it.

Did you take out principle? No taxes?.... in order to invest in the mattress? I have a stack of monthly statements, unopened, sitting unfiled on the floor. Too much bad news for me, alas.

Meta, first thing I did about two years ago was go to almost all cash, so I was sittting in a CD latter, some 180 day paper etc. Then I started buying gold and silver. Now CD's are taxed, well everything is taxed one way or another.

I mention over at The Elephant Blog that when the derivatives began to unwind it would be catasprophic..then Obama takes the lead and I'm really focused on his economics which are Marxixt. So I simply began pulling out the cash and storing it. In the short run I'm not getting hurt, in fact I sleep better at night.

Even now they have nationalized the banks , but without ordering a direction so the banks are using money to pay the usual high bonuses to the pooh bahs. Of course money is fungible so they can claim it is what they already had but it was the intent of the 700 billion to be loaned out, not spent for bonus' If I had my way we'd have a taxpayers revolt and simply not pay on April 15th. Let them come after 70,000,000 people or whatever the numer is.

You know Meta, the main thrust of my entire thinking now is that we have reached and passed the tipping point where government is under our control. We are now the serfs and we have to come up with a mass methods of thwarting the states unceasing effort to amass more and more power.

And now we have a Hitler like movement complete with the salute, the oath to Obama and not the Constitution. Once in office he'll revert to full blown dictatorial powers with Nancy in tow. It's Munich 1932.
#1 Habu on 2008-10-21 04:35 (Reply)
H:

You are getting hysterical about this. Don't be so alarmed: there will be William Ayers to keep them in line.

Actually tho, you are getting hysterical. The Dems sounded equally terrified when Bush got elected.
#1.1 BD on 2008-10-21 05:57 (Reply)
Tuesdays edition of the WSJ is a cornicopia of news on the sub prime, how Soros and friends manipulated the ABX index which affected the McCain campaign severely.

here's but one article of several.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122273062657688131.html

Caution ; may cause nausea and extreme irritability
#2 Habu on 2008-10-21 06:03 (Reply)
BREAKING NEWS......

OBAMA 'S LEAVING THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL TO VISIT HIS SICK GRANDMOTHER...PROBABLY THE ONE WHO KEEPS SAYING HE WAS BORN IN KENYA. BYR-BYE GRANNY...IN A CONSPIRACY ALL LOOSE ENDS ARE TRIMMED.

BREAKING NEWS.......
#3 Habu on 2008-10-21 06:12 (Reply)
This is the genesis of the aforementioned WSJ article on the ABX,Soros etc....an informative read is an understatement.

From the American Thinker

http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/10/hedge_funds_politics_and_the_m.html
#4 Habu on 2008-10-21 06:18 (Reply)
Habu,

" how Soros and friends manipulated the ABX index which affected the McCain campaign severely."

Of this I have no doubt, though I would not limit it to Soros and friends. Or perhaps 'friends' encompasses those I would add.

Thanks for the explanation. I would that I were savvy enough to know what to do. I trust no brokers: I trust no one who makes money off my money.
`
#5 Meta on 2008-10-21 09:36 (Reply)

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