Are we always free in our judgments? It is not easy to state one’s own position, knowing that it does not coincide with the opinion of the majority. And sometimes we refuse to believe the obvious at all, if others confidently convince us otherwise. Is it possible not to succumb to conformism?
Maxim flips through a magazine in the waiting room. At some point, it begins to seem to him that the smell of smoke is coming from the ventilation grill above the entrance. He raises his head, surreptitiously looks around at his neighbors – no, no one seems to notice anything. Maxim tries to read again.
Meanwhile, the smell is getting stronger – the room really smells of burning! What about the neighbors? Still no reaction: everyone is immersed in their own magazine. Maybe the smell is not so strong? Strange… And Maxim turns the page.
The people gathered in the waiting room were participants in the experiment: the organizers paid them for not reacting to anything. As a result, it took Maxim about ten minutes to realize what was happening: he was almost choking on the smoke when he decided to leave the premises and raise the alarm!
Three-quarters of the participants gave a deliberately wrong answer if it was chosen by the whole group
Is the power of others over us so strong? Can the opinion of the group to which we voluntarily or involuntarily belong, make us believe anything – even that the danger that really threatens our lives does not exist at all?
In another, simpler experiment, which was conducted in the 50s, Solomon Ash, a psychologist at the University of Pittsburgh (USA), asked students to compare the length of several lines drawn on paper. A five-year-old child can easily cope with such a task.
However, each of the students was previously shown the answers of his comrades. The results of a series of experiments amazed the scientist: it turned out that three-quarters of the participants gave a deliberately wrong answer at least once if the whole group chose it. And in half of the experiments with a false solution, one in four consistently agreed!
Dr. Solomon Ash throughout his life was looking for an answer to the question: why? How to explain such irrationalism of rational beings, who reject the arguments of common sense under the influence of the senseless behavior of their fellow minds?
Perhaps the correct answer was found quite recently, thanks to the latest methods of scanning various parts of the brain. At Emory University, Atlanta (USA), scientist Greg Burns deciphered the processes that take place in a person’s head at the moment when he makes a decision on the principle of “like everyone else.”
When the participant of the experiment learns about the choice of the group, the scanner shows: his very perception of the experimental object changes! The work of the sensory regions of the brain that measure and evaluate the parameters of objects changes under the pressure of group assessments – even if the group is clearly wrong. A person, surprisingly, really perceives a reality distorted by the opinions of others. If everyone says that this one of the five absolutely identical lines is longer than the others, we actually see that it is longer.
And what happens if a person nevertheless decides to express his own assessment contrary to the unanimous opinion of the group, contrary to the laws of conformism? A zone of fear is activated in his brain! It turns out that each of us feels how dangerous it is to assert even the self-evident, to openly speak the truth in front of others who simply cannot see the truth.
This can be considered proven: none of us has complete control over our own perception. The luxurious attire of the “naked king”, contrary to the evidence, really exists in our minds, while the crowd shouts that the king is dressed. What responsibility falls on the one who, under these cries, will take the liberty of asserting the opposite.
Not to succumb to conformism, to defend the truth – even the most elementary – is always difficult
If the opinion of the group easily dominates the judgment of each of us (and exactly where this judgment originates – in the plexus of brain tissues responsible for individual perception!), then what clarity of mind, vigilance and courage should we show in our assessments.
Not to succumb to conformism, to defend the truth – even the most elementary – is always difficult. This is only possible for those who have personal judgment, whose courage and inner integrity are stronger than the fear of being rejected by the crowd.
The names of such people are well known to mankind: Galileo, Luther, Darwin, Freud, Einstein, Martin Luther King. Once their beliefs, discoveries or political position went against the opinion of the majority – and they won. But what about today? Even if we do not aspire to make any scientific or social revolution, this inner integrity and this courage are still necessary for everyone.
Just to be able to judge our own existence and build it the way we think is right and necessary. To stay free from the power of today’s mass behavior patterns like the cult of overconsumption and other social syndromes that our society is overloaded with. To move on our own path to a better life.