Group Think Quotes

“The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. ...We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society. ...In almost every act of our daily lives, whether in the sphere of politics or business, in our social conduct or our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons...who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind.”
― Edward Bernays, Propaganda

“They hate because they fear, and they fear because they feel that the deepest feelings of their lives are being assaulted and outraged. And they do not know why; they are powerless pawns in a blind play of social forces.”
― Richard Wright, Native Son

“A “collective” mind does not exist. It is merely the sum of endless numbers of individual minds. If we have an endless number of individual minds who are weak, meek, submissive and impotent – who renounce their creative supremacy for the sake of the “whole” and accept humbly that the “whole’s” verdict – we don’t get a collective super-brain. We get only the weak, meek, submissive and impotent collective mind.”
― Ayn Rand, Journals of Ayn Rand

“To do evil a human being must first of all believe that what he's doing is good, or else that it's a well-considered act in conformity with natural law. Fortunately, it is in the nature of the human being to seek a justification for his actions...
Ideology—that is what gives the evildoing its long-sought justification and gives the evildoer the necessary steadfastness and determination.”
― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago 1918–1956

“The tribe often thinks the visionary has turned his back on them. When, in fact, the visionary has simply turned his face to the future.”
― Ray A. Davis

“Alice is fictional. This isn't.”
― Jess C. Scott, Zombie Mania: A Zombie Apocalypse Parody

“A committee is the only known form of life with a hundred bellies and no brain.”
― Robert A. Heinlein, Methuselah's Children

“Socialism is "group-think." How uninformed in history do you have to be to advocate for "group-think"??”
― A.E. Samaan

“Advice to young Samuel Gompers that might apply in many other areas: "Learn from socialism, but don't join it.”
― Barbara W. Tuchman, The Proud Tower: A Portrait of the World Before the War, 1890-1914

“Group Thinking” or lack of courage to ask the tough and strategic questions is the chief weakness on Boards today.”
― Pearl Zhu, Digitizing Boardroom: The Multifaceted Aspects of Digital Ready Boards

“I am in good company, simply following those in front of me and knowing others are following behind. We are on our way up a narrow staircase. The bannister is a thick rope suggesting safety. The stairs go around and around inside a church tower; or perhaps it is a minaret? The whorls of the staircase grow narrower and narrower, but as there are so many people behind there is no longer any possibility of turning around or even stopping. The pressure from behind foeces me on. The staircase suddenly stops at a garbage chute in the wall. When i open the hatch and squeeze my way through the hole, i find myself on the outside of the tower. The rope has dissappeared. It is totally dark. I cling on to the slippery, icy wall of the tower while vainly trying to find a foothold in the emptiness.”
― Sven Lindqvist, Exterminate All the Brutes; and Desert Divers

“If You Respect Their Preparation,
You never Drop the Baton”
― Vineet Raj Kapoor

“Rationalization is a dialogue with ourselves or with like-minded brains. Reasoning, on the other hand, is an honest and open conversation in which we try to persuade interlocutors who don't necessarily agree with us beforehand with arguments that are as universally valid, coherent, and detailed as possible, while opening ourselves to persuasion.”
― Alberto Cairo, How Charts Lie: Getting Smarter about Visual Information

“It would be good if peer review actually worked, if it actually challenged and questioned what scientists write. Did you know that the Koran is peer reviewed by 100% of Muslims and always receives a 100% pass mark? Funny that! Who in their right mind would claim that peer review is an intrinsic good? Nobel laureate Max Planck said that science progressed funeral by funeral. So much for peer review. You actually need the peer reviewers to die before new ideas can be entertained! Peer reviewers are in fact the midwit, careerist paradigm enforcers. They shut down all new thinking.”
― David Sinclair, Universals Versus Particulars: The Ultimate Intellectual War

“I gave Henry a supscription [sic] to the Book of the Month club that tells you the book you have to read every month to make your individuality stand out. And it really is remarkable, because it makes over 50,000 people read the same book every month.”
― Anita Loos, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes / But Gentlemen Marry Brunettes

“The lesson we learn from Nightingale's experience is that, as painful as it may sound, we humans are barely able to reason on our own or when surrounded by like-minded people. When we try to reason this way, we end up rationalizing because we use arguments as self-reinforcing virtue signals. And the worst news is that the more intelligent we are and the more information we have access to, the more successful our rationalizations are. This is in part because we're more aware of what the members of the groups -- political parties, churches, and others -- that we belong to think, and we try to align with them. On the other hand, if you are exposed to an opinion and don't know where the opinion comes from, you're more likely to think about it on its merits.”
― Alberto Cairo, How Charts Lie: Getting Smarter about Visual Information

“No matter how loud the voice, no matter how many people are saying it doesn’t make it true. But how can you tell? One tell tale sign is if your voice is suppressed when you try to question that truth.”
― Charles F Glassman

“It’s time to introduce a new fallacy that we have coined the Kool-Aid Fallacy. It goes like this: “You disagree with me and I’m in the majority while you’re in the minority. Therefore you’re a cult. Jim Jones led a cult and all of his followers drank poisoned Kool-Aid. Therefore, you’re a suicide cult and I am entitled to say, ‘Keep drinking the Kool-Aid.’” It’s unbelievable how many times this fallacy appears on social media. It is now so common that we can validly refer to a Kool-Aid version of Godwin’s Law. Any strong-minded minority with ideas that challenge the common herd will automatically be called a cult and then it is inevitable that Kool-Aid will be mentioned. Whenever any troll refers to “drinking the Kool-Aid”, they should immediately be labeled as having committed the Kool-Aid fallacy.”
― Thomas Stark, Extra Scientiam Nulla Salus: How Science Undermines Reason

“An overemphasis on teamwork and consensus can cause a kind of mental lethargy. If you subordinate your own expectations to the expectations of the group, you’re absolved of the responsibilities for the choices the group makes.”
― Vincent H. O'Neil, A Pause in the Perpetual Rotation

“Our world is full of people who want to tell you how to live and what to think, and they become very dangerous when anyone says no to that.”
― Vincent H. O'Neil, A Pause in the Perpetual Rotation

“Education is the process of years and enormous amounts of money spent training masses of people to see the world the same way and to accept the same ideas that their predecessors had.”
― Jeanine Joy Ph D, Harness the Power of Resilience: Be Ready for Life

“No matter how loud the voice, no matter how many people are speaking it, doesn’t make it true. But how can I tell?
One tell tale sign is if your voice is suppressed or vilified, when you try to question that voice.”
― Charles F Glassman

“Be aware that the overwhelming majority of German people in the 1930s and 1940s were very much like you and me—decent people wanting the best for their friends and family. Have we learned from their lesson? The influence of group think can manipulate the masses into justifying horrific actions.”
― Charles F Glassman

“Is the Bible a “source”? Is a commonly accepted scientific fallacy and misinterpretation a “source”? The “sources” once said that the earth was flat, that the earth was at the center of the universe, and that God created the earth as his special project. Why would we take “sources” seriously? All we take seriously are reason, logic, and mathematics. Sources that are in contradiction of these – and nearly all sources are – are worse than useless. What kind of pathetic human being, what kind of intellectual cripple, has to appeal to sources and authorities? Use your reason and logic … then you will end your dependency on “sources”, i.e. authorities.”
― Thomas Stark, Extra Scientiam Nulla Salus: How Science Undermines Reason

“What could possibly be the harm of an iron orthodoxy like that?”
― Vincent H. O'Neil, A Pause in the Perpetual Rotation

“Why did the god of the Western Bible get annoyed when the people were united, speaking the same language, and building a high tower together — and with zero hatred?

The god of the Western Bible divided the people and caused confusion among them ...dividing them into small tribes or groups. Just like how the West did to the African continent and its people.

History is mind-blowing.”
― Mitta Xinindlu

“There's nothing wrong with being part of a group. Humans are social, so it's no surprise that people band together. In fact, many important human achievements, like the civil rights movement, are inspired by groups. But group behavior can also create a sense of division.”
― Jessica Speer, Middle School - Safety Goggles Advised: Exploring the WEIRD Stuff from Gossip to Grades, Cliques to Crushes and Popularity to Peer Pressure

“Everybody goes where everybody goes.”
― Thomas Vato

“Sometimes there must be someone who says something nobody else does on something the majority agrees but stays silent not to put a target on their backs.”
― Thomas Vato

“Truth is not a popularity contest.”
― Frank Sonnenberg, BECOME: Unleash the Power of Moral Character and Be Proud of the Life You Choose