Blog Post/Journal Response #5
Response Due: Wednesday, October 24th
Please answer the question below:
Group think is Irving Janis’ term for “a narrowing of thought by a group of people, leading to a perception that there is only one correct answer, in which to even suggest alternatives becomes a sign of disloyalty.”
Please provide at least one historical example of group think and explain what characteristics of the event made it an example of group think. Further, please provide an example of a time you might have experienced group think in your own life (workplace, school, community group, etc.). Do you feel that group think can be dangerous? Why or why not?
posted by Danelle @ 11:11 PM
6 Comments:
Group think is very dangerous because it throws rationality to the wind. Rational people, who under extraorinary circumstances fall into group think, begin to make irrational and volatile decisions. Off the top of my head, the best example of this would be the incident that occured with the US naval destroyers Maddox and Turner Joy in early August 1964. To understand this event and the group think that followed, one must realize that America was on the verge of war with Vietnam and military and political powers within the US were becomming very jumpy and on edge. On August 2, 1964, the destroyer Maddox was in international waters off the coast of Vietnam when it was attacked by the Vietnamese. North Vietnamese shell fragments which were recovered from the Maddox's deck proves this. There is no doubt in anyone's mind that the attack has taken place. Two days later , August 4, 1964, is where group think comes into play. On this date , both the destroyers Maddox and Turner Joy report being engaged by the enemy. Jumpy radar operators who experienced the events of August 2 misidentify blips on there screen as enemy torpedoes. Knowing what happened two days earlier, rational had left these men and the blips were immediatley identified as enemy rounds. The Admiral in charge of this group of destroyers calls the President and tells him, "There is no doubt in my mind we were attacked." Having already been engaged by the enemy at an earlier date, nobody takes the time to investigate and everybody jumps on the same band wagon. It is , at a much later date, concluded that the perceived events of August 4 never occured, but it's much too late for that. The August 4 "attacks" prompted bombing raids on North Vietnam by the Air Force. Vietnam was officially a "hot" war. Among many other things which were also a product of group think, the August 4 incident propelled America into war with Vietnam.
There is no question that group think is dangerous. It causes mistakes to be made, factors of the situation to be over or underestimated, and it can cost lives.
As for my own experiences with grroup think, I do not believe that I have fell under its influence very many times in my life. I was very seldom part of a group to begin with. As an American I believe I fell into group think when our President told us that Saddam Hussein was involved with 9/11. I didn't both to look at the facts, which proved that he wasn't. I believed my leader because why would my leader lie to me ? I blindly supported invading a country we had no reason to invade because my leader said we did. That's group think.
Group think is danderous and very wrong. This is because people who experienced group think make irriational decisions, it causes mistakes, and it causes lives. An historical example of group think is that many people believed that William Shakespeare wrote all his poems. Reading some of his poems and researching about him made me believe that he might of not wrote most of he's poems. My English professor even told me that he did research himself and thought the same way. Group think made us believe that all William Shakespeare's poems was all written by him. There are many more historical examples of group think. I'm not really sure if I experienced group think but I remember that couple students told me that I needed Algebra 2 for my nursing major. I just found out from my advisor, that I don't need that class that I needed another math class which I didn't know about. You might consider that group think.
Group think is horribly dangerous. It can blind people to the most obvious answer of truth and influence them to think in a narrow minded way. An example of group think in history is slavery and the slave trade in Africa. The idea that slavery was acceptable was agreed on by most everyone. The slave trade was the largest forced migration in the world with numbers ranging from 10 to 15 million Africans who were part of the slave trades to the Americas alone from the 1500s to the 1800s. Those who spoke out against slavery were ignored. However, freed African slaves began to speak out against slavery, telling their own experiences and exposing the evil of the system. In 1807, Britain went against the group think of slavery and banned the trade, encouraging other nations to follow in their footsteps. However, many did not accept the ban and continued the trade illegally. Even after trade was made illegal, it did not end slavery. It took hundreds of years for people to see beyond this conformist way of group think on slavery. I believed I have experienced group think in my life concerning a past high school I attended. Along with everyone else who attended this private school, I thought it was the best school ever! I thought my classmates who didn’t like the school were crazy! However, I was blinded to the fact that I wasn’t getting the best education that was available to me. I first began to see beyond this group think when my mother brought it to my attention. I look back and wonder how I could not have seen past what the school really was like. I was affected by group think and blindly supported a school that did not have me, a student, in its best interest.
From the 1940’s to the late 1950’s McCarthyism terroized thousands of people who were considered to be communist sympathizers. People were coersed into giving up names of friends and family who were were believed to be sympathizers. All of this was done under duress and fear of being investigated by the government. Those who were brought before the government panels were subject to intense questioning and presented with little to no evidence of being communist sympathizers. President McCarthy’s fear of communism led him to destroy people’s lives without basis for persecution. People from all walks of life lost their jobs, reputations and friends. Some never recovered from this lable.
Eveyone in the Government at that time went along with his fear driven campaign to rid America of communist sympathizers. Many felt felt as though they must participate with McCarthy or face the same fate as those they were investigating. This went on for more than 10 years before people stood up and spoke out against it. Group think can be extemely dangerous and create extremist, just like the Jones Town Masacre and many others. However there can also be positive group think such as the D.A.R.E. program presented in which children are introduced at an early age how harmful drugs can be. They are taught to be proud of not using drugs, but this too has its pitfalls.
I feel everyone experiences group think at one time or another. Fear of being an outcast in a school clic was one of my experiences with group think. I was shy and didn’t feel as though I fit in anywhere. I took up with a group of kids who did use drugs, smoked ciggies and ditched school. This created many problems for me during my school years.
History has proven that groupthink is dangerous with Pearl Harbor and the Vietnam War.
My example and some pacifists would probably disagree, but i think President Bush Sr's political idea not to invade Iraq when we had the opportunity and the support. I'm sure that was a groupthink decision. I bet his military advisors suggested invading Iraq.
President Bush's statement of "This is not a war for oil. This is war against aggression." Of course it was a war for oil. Anybody who bought that statement is an idiot. Now look what we have after 14 years. We have a war now that almost nobody supports. Even some of the Republicans don't support the President in this war. Even Britain doesn't support us anymore because they ousted Tony Blair in their elections.
The only group the President was probably listening to was his staff and the U.N.and im pretty sure the average American doesn't really care what the UN says.
Myself, i have done it once and it almost cost me a relationship. My wife's sister said no when i asked her if my wife back then my fiance could join me and my parents in San Francisco for a week. After she said no to me i asked my dad to talk to her and he did and she said no to him too. My dad and my mom advised me that if her sister wasn't going to allow her to stay with me and my parents then there was a possibility that she wouldn't let my fiance marry me. So i kinda half dumped my fiancee over the phone because my dad and my mom conviced me it was the right thing to do. LUCKILY, my fiancee later called me back telling me she would be joining me and my parents in S.F., Ca. So if my wife had let her sister control her and if i hadn't loved my fiancee so much i would probably be leading an unhappy life.
Groupthink can be a very powerful thing. Any aspect of racism would fit in the category of groupthink. A group that comes to mind for me is the KKK. Many white males coming together to say that only the white race is powerful and means anything. The KKK was used often used with terrorism, committing acts of violence, and forms of intimidation. The group would burn crosses and would oppress African Americans and other social or ethnic groups.
A situation in which groupthink is used in my life would be when i cave into gossip. At work, school, and my everyday life it seems like everyone is gossipping. To the point that everyone starts to believe the rumors instead of trying to figure out what the real problem is.
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