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Group Think versus Independent Think

Some Rambling Thinks

Thoughts on Group Thought versus Independent Thought

 There are pressures moving us towards conformity of thought and behaviour. People look for affirmation; being cast out from the pack is lonely. We have various expressions related to this:

  • Don’t rock the boat
  • Don’t make waves
  • Go along to get along
  • The nail that sticks up gets hammered down (Japanese saying)

Some folks seem to embrace heterodox thinking, are just natural contrarians.[1] These are the independent thinkers, the dissidents. Other folks gravitate towards orthodox views; playing it safe they go with the group consensus, perhaps never questioning it.  I will call these the group thinkers, the conformists.

In addition, some folks don’t question much, are very unreflective. Others are more intellectually aware, curious, challenging dogma. I regard this unreflective – reflective dimension as separate from the conformist – dissident dimension.

I make somewhat of a caricature of these positions, using a matrix. I have made an assumption, which is not really tenable, that dissidents are the good guys. Clearly this is necessarily not true.

Conformist Dissident
 

Unreflective

 

Unthinking

·         True believer

·         Blindly obedient

·         Useful idiot

·         Heedless of costs and benefits

·         Reckless

·         Loose cannon

·         Naive about consequences

·         Heedless of costs and benefits

 

Reflective

 

Views studied and well considered

·         Opportunistic actions

·         Cynic

·         Not spiritual

·         Looks for the bad

·         Sneers at the good

·         Often cowardly

·         Aware of costs and benefits

·         Principled actions

·         Not cynical

·         Spiritual

·         Looks for the good

·         Regrets the bad

·         Must be brave

·         Aware of costs and benefits

Thoughts on Group Thought versus Independent Thought

The Unreflective Conformist

The unreflective conformist is not a deep thinking individual, and has an unconsidered adherence to popular views. They go with the flow, and don’t question much of anything. They are really pretty heedless of the implications of the positions that they take. We might regard them as:

  • True believers
  • Blindly obedient
  • Useful idiot
  • Heedless of costs and benefits

The Reflective Conformist

The reflective conformist has studied and considered the positions that he espouses. He does so in rather cynical fashion. He may not believe what the group believes, or he may believe, but he seeks his own advantage over concerns for truth or integrity. Consider these folks as having these characteristics:

  • Not spiritual
  • Opportunists
  • Cynical
  • Looks for the bad
  • Sneers at the good
  • Maybe cowardly
  • Aware at some level of the costs and benefits of conformity and dissidence

The Unreflective Dissident

The unreflective dissident seems to be a contrarian, but is not very sophisticated in his understanding of the issues, an unthinking sort of dissidence. You might characterize such a person as:

  • Reckless, a bit of a loose cannon
  • Shoots from the lip
  • Naive about consequences
  • Heedless of costs and benefits of conformity and dissidence

The Reflective Dissident

The reflective dissident has studied and well considered his positions and the consequences of speaking out. He might be characterized as follows:

  • Principled actions
  • Not cynical
  • Spiritual
  • Looks for the good
  • Regrets the bad
  • Must be brave
  • Aware of costs and benefits

This as I have said is a bit of a caricature, but it has some truth as well I believe.

Finding Truth

I have given up on epistemology and ontology as being mostly not useful in understanding the world, but there is much to be learned about the psychology and sociology of belief.

There are psychological mechanisms underlying group think. These would include, in no particular order:

  • Group loyalties
  • Indoctrination and propaganda
  • Cultural beliefs
  • Cognitive bias

Each is worth an extended discussion but I will leave that for another time. The list is incomplete in any case.

Random Thoughts on Truth and Belief

The individual, conformist or dissident, may be wrong. The group, mainstream or contrarian, may be wrong.

Dissidents may be alone at first but eventually they may find a group of more of less like-minded folks. Are they then just subject to a different group think?

The history of the world, science included, is a history of mistaken beliefs. Mutually contradictory views of people can not be completely right. It goes to say that at most one of mutually contradictory opinions may be correct but it does not follow that any are correct.

The number of ways of being wrong must vastly exceed the number of ways of being right. We call this Murphy’s Law I believe.

Are you a dissident or just a crank? Are you a rationalist, or conspiracy theorist? There is seldom an objective test for any of these. Although some believe they can make such judgements reliably, I suspect that they are often kidding themselves.

Thoughts on Evidence and Reasoning

Evidence must be interpreted within the framework of what you currently believe. However, you will probably never have all of the evidence. Also, evidence coming at a later date may change your evaluation of events. Evidence must be assessed for reliability, provenance, its overall worth and it will be subject to interpretation, with a strong component of subjectivity.

Thoughts on Costs and Benefits

There may be costs and benefits to holding fast to your views, regardless of the truth of your beliefs. There are costs and there are benefits to being a group thinker, and also to being an independent thinker. Below I suggest some possibilities in a matrix.

Conformity

 

Dissidence
Costs There are costs to being a conformist:

·         Creative thought may be squelched

·         You may follow the herd over the metaphorical cliff

·         May be more less ethical, failing to call out malfeasance

·         End up in collusion with malefactors, perhaps criminal actions, becoming complicit

·         If the group is wrong about things, you may not find the flaws and feel free to point them out.

·         You may suffer stress if you realize you are living a lie

 

 

There are costs to being a dissident. Dissidence is often punished if openly expressed:

·         Social penalties, loss of relationships, marginalization, alienation from your fellows

·         Health impacts (stress, and now, denial of treatment for the dissidents)

·         Psychological (stress, self-esteem, doubts, anger, depression)

·         Financial penalties

·         Career penalties

·         Legal troubles

Benefits There are benefits to being a conformist

·         Conformity is rewarded by the group

·         Your career may benefit

·         People will accept you as one of the group

·         By going along, you may get along

There are benefits to being a dissident

·         Creative thought may be encouraged

·         Seeing more clearly

·         Service to the world if you are right and you message is heard

·         Way to avoid the march of folly

·         May be more ethical, calling out malfeasance

·         Avoid collusion with malefactors, perhaps criminal actions, avoid complicity

·         Most big advances in the world, science, technology, art, and so on, are due to folks who departed from the standard consensus about reality, and saw things with fresh eyes.

·         If the group is wrong about things, only those of independent minds will find the flaws and point them out.

 

Below, I briefly discuss the costs and benefits to both conformity and dissidence, with examples.

Costs of Conformity

 There are costs to being a conformist:

  • Creative thought may be squelched
  • You may follow the herd over the metaphorical cliff
  • May be more less ethical, failing to call out malfeasance
  • End up in collusion with malefactors, perhaps criminal actions, becoming complicit
  • If the group is wrong about things, you may not find the flaws and feel free to point them out.
  • You may suffer stress if you realize you are living a lie

Benefits of Conformity

There are reasons why someone is happy being a conformist, there are benefits to not rocking the boat. Conformity is rewarded by the group in various ways. For instance:

  • People will accept you as one of the group
  • By going along, you will get along
  • You won’t have to think as hard
  • You will avoid the unease resulting from being the odd man out
  • Your career may benefit
  • Your social life may benefit
  • You will be seen as a “team player”

Costs of Dissidence

 There are costs to being a dissident. Dissidence is often punished if openly expressed:

  • There may be social penalties such as the loss of relationships, marginalization, alienation from your fellows
  • There can be health impacts due to stress, and as is happening now, denial of treatment for dissidents
  • There can be psychological with stress, lowered self-esteem, doubts, anger and depression
  • There might be financial penalties due to loss of career, or in current times, loss of job and no unemployment insurance
  • There might even be legal troubles if you rock the boat too much

Benefits of Dissidence

On the plus site, there are benefits to being a dissident. These might include:

  • More creativity.
  • Seeing the world more clearly
  • Most of the big advances in the world in science, technology, art, and so on, are due to folks who departed from the consensus about reality, and saw things with fresh eyes.
  • Helping make the world a better place, providing that you are right and your message is heard
  • Preventing people from taking a march of folly. If the group is wrong about things, only those of independent minds will find the flaws and point them out.
  • Acting in a ethical manner, being a whistle blower and calling out malfeasance
  • Not colluding with bad actors, perhaps criminals, avoiding complicity

I suppose that I could expand on these points with concrete examples. This would of course require some actual research, references, time and effort. I will leave it as it is for now.

[1] My mother insisted that if she said “salt,” I would have to say “pepper.”  Things have not changed much over the decades, except I am more aware that I may be full of it

B.C. GOVERNMENT BACKS DOWN ON FORCED VACCINES FOR HEALTH PROFESSIONALS

B.C. GOVERNMENT BACKS DOWN ON FORCED VACCINES FOR HEALTH PROFESSIONALS
Several weeks ago, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry told all B.C. Health Professionals they would have to get vaccinated if they wanted to continue practicing.  Today, March 7, she and the BC government completely backed away from that order.  One reason the government backed down is that many of the affected groups hired lawyers to protect their rights.  
 
Below are a few quotes from a letter the legal firm Doak Shirreff, hired to represent ‘a large group of BC psychologists’ sent to the Legal Services Branch of the Ministry of Justice and Attorney General.  Many of the comments in this letter raise serious questions about what the people of British Columbia have been told over the past many months by our media and governments.  
1..  “We represent a large group of B.C. psychologistswho are very concerned about the Announcement and the harmful 
effect it will have on themselves, their staff, their patients and the general public if they are required to be vaccinated for 
COVID19 as of March 24, 2022 in order to be able to continue to work ..
 
2..  “Our clients have worked safely throughout the pandemic, without any evidence of increased risk of infectionor 
transmissionbetween themselves and theirstaffor their patients.”
 
3..  “Dr. Bonnie Henry has acknowledged that the COVID-19 vaccines do not prevent infection or transmission of the virus. 
In preamble G. of her November 18, 2021 health order … she admitted that vaccinated people could still be infected 
with, and transmit the virus.”
 
4.. “Careful inspection of the recent COVID-19 cases counts and vaccination status in recent data fromPublic Health Ontario 
also shows higher rates of COVID-19 in the double vaccinated population than the unvaccinated population, even when 
adjusted per capita.”
 
5.. “There is good evidence to suggest that natural immunity is much stronger and durable than any limited protection offered 
by the vaccines. A comprehensive paper written by many of Canada’s top scientists and academics in immunogenetics, 
immunotoxicology, viral immunology, molecular virology, pathobiology, neuroscience and neurology, referencing 
numerous peer-reviewed published studies, confirms this fact.”
 
6.. “Anarticle published in the Lancet in January 2022 indicatesthat recent studies show that there is no significant difference 
in transmission of the virus between vaccinated and unvaccinated persons. Another study published in the Lancet on 
February 7, 2022concluded that natural immunity … provides far superior protection than vaccination.”
 
7.. “Many countries have abandoned their vaccine requirements or are in the process of doing so,including:Austria, Iceland, 
United Kingdom, Scotland, Ireland, Denmark, Sweden, Mexico, El Salvador, Finland, Switzerland, the Netherlands, 
Belgium, the Czech Republic, Norway, Italy, Germany, South Africa, Jordan, Israel, Cypress and others. With Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario,Québec, PEI, New Brunswick,and Nova Scotiaalso starting to remove vaccine mandates or announcing that they will be doing so shortly, why is BC going in the opposite direction? What science is BC relying upon that isdifferent from that which is informing other Governments?”
 
8.. “Let us examine all cause mortality data from the randomized control trial data (i.e., gold standard evidence) from Pfizer 
released to the FDA involving over 40,000 participants.Experimental data clearly shows that the vaccine group did not 
save any more lives than the placebo group…”
 
9.. “Data published by the UK Health Security Agency on February 22, 2022 shows that the fully vaccinated account for 9 
out of every 10 COVID-19 deaths in England, and 4 of 5 deaths among the triple-vaccinated. This data does not 
support statements made by Dr. Bonnie Henry that the vaccines are reducing the severity of symptoms in infected 
individuals and in fact discloses a disturbing trend.”
 
10..  “A Freedom of Information request made to the BC government on November 10, 2021, requested information to support 
statements made by Dr. Bonnie Henry in her October 21, 2021 … public health order. . The BC Government replied on February 10, 2022 to advise that no such information or data could be found. 
 
11..A Freedom of Information request made to the BC Government regarding hospitalization figures from January 1, 2015 
up to and including March 31, 2021 resulted in a response from the BC government demonstrating thathospitalization 
numbers have actually decreased since the beginning of the pandemic from what they were in the 5 years before the 
pandemic.
This information contradicts the statements of Dr. Bonnie Henry that BC hospitals experienced a significant 
increase in the number of hospitalizations as a result of Covid 19 patients that was overwhelming the health care system. 
 
12..  “If the B.C. Government intends to proceed with expansion of vaccine mandates to include psychologists in private 
practice, as well as all other healthcare providers, our clients would appreciate receiving the science and information 
that the Government is relying upon to justify its decision” 

 
We look forward to hearing from you. 
Yours truly, 
DOAK SHIRREFF LAWYERS LLP