Historically, many groups displaying conformity did so because of strict religious control over their communities - and (as you rightly say) faced expulsion from the security of them as heretics.
As the ‘west’ gained in strength over the course of the 20th century - independence from communities grew as an increase in relative wealth became more prevalent & folks travelled about more. There was a noticeable increase in more egoic-based pursuits.
In 1972 Irving L. Janus wrote his first book about ‘group think’. The expectation of a group to not only comply with each other - but also to punish those ‘outsiders’ who were likely to interfere with the core beliefs of the group.
This has become a huge problem now as the range & breadth of those able to start a following has vastly increased since the times when hundreds of thousands (or millions) worshipped one creed.
Add in social media to the mix - and algorithmic selection - and sponsorship/ownership of the infrastructure running it - and you have the perfect storm for group-think.
The best example of the rise of group-think is climate change. It started with three people around 1978/9. Just three. Forty five years on - it’s consumed the minds of billions & without wishing to mention a certain UK broadcasting entity - messaging around it drips feeds the group think daily.
I’m no genius - but perhaps the whole way to start reversing conformity & group-think is to really think hard about what you need & what you want - rather than trying to force-fit yourself & your dependents into a framework that no longer serves you?
I'm reminded of R. Buckminster Fuller and his assertion that if a system is broken - don't attempt to keep fixing it - go off and build another. Fuller was a genius - but society at large isn't always easy on people who think differently (genius or not), and that may also be something we collectively want to ponder?
Historically, many groups displaying conformity did so because of strict religious control over their communities - and (as you rightly say) faced expulsion from the security of them as heretics.
As the ‘west’ gained in strength over the course of the 20th century - independence from communities grew as an increase in relative wealth became more prevalent & folks travelled about more. There was a noticeable increase in more egoic-based pursuits.
In 1972 Irving L. Janus wrote his first book about ‘group think’. The expectation of a group to not only comply with each other - but also to punish those ‘outsiders’ who were likely to interfere with the core beliefs of the group.
This has become a huge problem now as the range & breadth of those able to start a following has vastly increased since the times when hundreds of thousands (or millions) worshipped one creed.
Add in social media to the mix - and algorithmic selection - and sponsorship/ownership of the infrastructure running it - and you have the perfect storm for group-think.
The best example of the rise of group-think is climate change. It started with three people around 1978/9. Just three. Forty five years on - it’s consumed the minds of billions & without wishing to mention a certain UK broadcasting entity - messaging around it drips feeds the group think daily.
I’m no genius - but perhaps the whole way to start reversing conformity & group-think is to really think hard about what you need & what you want - rather than trying to force-fit yourself & your dependents into a framework that no longer serves you?
I'm reminded of R. Buckminster Fuller and his assertion that if a system is broken - don't attempt to keep fixing it - go off and build another. Fuller was a genius - but society at large isn't always easy on people who think differently (genius or not), and that may also be something we collectively want to ponder?