Tot: There's so many things i want to ask that i just can't get to. I would say one thing, which is, the downside to collective illusions is that they are very powerful when they're in force. But as i try to lay out toward the end of the book, i collectv illusions are also fragile because they are social lies. When they break, when you shatter them, what ends up happening is social change occurs at a rate and scale that would have seemed unimaginable. Suddenly things become possible. And if you understand that phenomenon, then it changes what we do next and it leaves me very hopeful about the kinds of things we can accomplish together.
Research shows our desire to fit in is incredibly strong. If you've ever disagreed with a group, but were afraid to speak up, you know the feeling. It means we go along to get along.
Unfortunately, these feelings are the rule, not the exception. Millions of people experience them on a regular basis.
It’s a phenomena psychologists call pluralistic ignorance, and it distorts how we see the world. From racial segregation to discarding healthy kidneys slated for organ transplants, the effects can be enormous.
Todd Rose, author of the book, Collective Illusions: Conformity, Complicity, and the Science of Why We Make Bad Decisions, believes it’s a much bigger problem than we realize, one that reinforces norms and shapes systems that hold us back. Todd not only explains the science behind it, but offers things we can do to address it, things that, ultimately, will make us happier and healthier in the process. It’s a terrific and timely read!
Episode Links
Middle Schoolers say they want to be famous
Solomon Asch
Leon Festinger
Rene Girard
Populace
Story Like You Mean It by Dennis Rebelo
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