Comments on: Why Minds Think Alike

By: handmade soap

handmade soap — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 18:23:08 +0000

Most men avoid an argument with me, once they know what I am like.

By: Wedding Photographer

Wedding Photographer — Sat, 23 May 2009 05:13:19 +0000

I’m a geek, stand up and be proud. I especially like change. Seems to put me under pressure to adapt, does that make me different? People say I am strange, does that mean I am obsessive? My mind can be changed, however I will argue my point. Best avoid an argument with a woman, men usually give in for an easy life.

By: Cheryl

Cheryl — Mon, 18 May 2009 17:33:12 +0000

I disagree – if I have a differing opinion to other people, then I will tell them, I like to be different!

By: Hayley

Hayley — Mon, 18 May 2009 11:59:10 +0000

Yup – from an evolutionary standpoint, it certainly makes sense to conform and there’s a vast amount of literature to confirm this (check out social psychologist Stanley Milgram’s essays to see his take on anxiety re: social taboos; v. interesting).

It’s not easy to go against the grain but I’ve never had a problem with it; I had a nasty habit of making other children cry when I was little because I refused to believe in Father Christmas, fairies, tooth fairy… Anything, really. The dumbfounded little faces I saw when explaining exactly how inprobable these things were as a child match exactly the expressions I see now when talking about my Atheism. There really does seem to be a big no-no about contradicting others’ beliefs that it’s about time we got around to challenging in the name of rationalism.

However, I find the other side of the coin more intersting – what about those who suffer no inhibitions regarding publicly standing up to nonsense and loudly proclaiming the antonym of popular belief e.g. Ghandi, Dr King, Emmeline Pankhurst, Charles Darwin and dare I say… Richard Dawkins? With such a wealth of research proclaiming that the majority rules, what is it that drives these individuals to stand out from the crowd, with the possibility of great risk to themselves?

Discuss!!

By: whodat

whodat — Mon, 18 May 2009 02:22:01 +0000

stay true, make them come to you.

By: Ms G

Ms G — Sun, 17 May 2009 19:35:30 +0000

The experiment they mention is really too dumb for words … I can’t imagine that someone would change her opion just because of that, especially considering the topic. Most people don’t need to be like the majority in that area at all. Thank God.

It’s a bit too standard, what they state here. What type of group, what age, topic, how much you value the topic etc etc. I dont dislike stating the opposite view. Quite often it turns out that there are more who were not really seeing it like they at first though. Not all people take the things that serious all the time and talk nonsense at times.

By: Flapjack

Flapjack — Sun, 17 May 2009 17:03:52 +0000

I had this experience back on my animation course about 12 years ago. Somehow “Rocky and Bullwinkle” came up in conversation about toons from yesteryear. Everyone correctly recalled that Bullwinkle was a moose, but for some reason everyone in the class of 5 people barring myself swore blind that Rocky was actually a beaver. Never mind the number of times he was referred to in the actual show as a flying squirrel (or the giveaway flying helmet he always wore). He had buck teeth and a big tail… ergo: beaver. At first I thought they were having a laugh, but they all appeared completely sincere in that belief, and sustained their unshakeable conviction for the best part of an hour.
I argued myself into a hole in the ground that day… perhaps I should’ve caved in just to keep the peace, but I just had to prove to myself I wasn’t going insane. Look, I know a squirrel when I see one!
It’s a geek thing… you wouldn’t understand

By: roz

roz — Sun, 17 May 2009 13:56:46 +0000

but…why were they all FEMALE?

By: Beth

Beth — Sun, 17 May 2009 13:49:25 +0000

Very interesting but not surprising. But that makes me want to know what part of the brain controls this, and I’d like to learn a bit more about myself – ie how I would often go against the view of the rest of my class plus teachers at school and not change my view, even if they all made me cry. Does it mean my brain is wired differently from other people’s

By: Berber Anna

Berber Anna — Sun, 17 May 2009 12:00:50 +0000

Makes sense. If you don’t follow the crowd, you stand the risk of being ostracized, and people instinctively know that’s bad for survival, so they follow the majority. I never had that instinct as a kid (thanks, autism…), so I was ridiculed and ignored by my peers.
On the other hand, if everyone just went along with the crowd, there’d never be any progress, so I suppose society will always need a few ‘free thinkers’. So having a different brain isn’t necessarily a bad thing, either.