Ask Lemmy
A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions
Please don't post about US Politics. If you need to do this, try [email protected]
Rules: (interactive)
1) Be nice and; have fun
Doxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them
2) All posts must end with a '?'
This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?
3) No spam
Please do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.
4) NSFW is okay, within reason
Just remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either [email protected] or [email protected].
NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].
5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions.
If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email [email protected]. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.
Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.
Partnered Communities:
Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu
view the rest of the comments
I'm not sure it is. The phrases you're using 'echo chamber', 'group think' indicate a belief that the people disagreeing with you aren't able to come to their own conclusions and just go with some perceived 'herd'. What I'm suggesting is that they're perfectly able to come to their own conclusions and its simply that lots of them disagree with you. Its not group think in an unthinking sheep-like mentality, its only group think in that a lot of the group independently think the same thing.
Does that mean you can't have a differing opinion? Of course not but you also can't expect not to be challenged on it either.
Echo chamber usually implies that the only voices being heard are those in agreement. Anyone who disagrees gets curated out one way or another. This leads to people believing they are right and people who disagree are wrong. It validates their beliefs and reinforces them. It allows them to other those who disagree.
It’s incredibly unhealthy and leads to radicalization. Just look at all the echo chambers that have led people to commit mass atrocities. Sure, there’s likely a preexisting likelihood of radicalization, but having everyone around you telling you how evil somebody else is can’t be a good thing. There’s so much disinformation that doesn’t have an opportunity to get debunked. There’s hatred of various groups that is being reinforced and propagated.
Incels killing women and couples because they deserve sex with anyone they desire because they were.. born? I honestly don’t know the reasoning there. Trans folk being targeted because they’re… bad for children somehow? Or something, I don’t get that one either. People dying of covid after taking their horse dewormer. People driving to other states to shoot a bunch of people to “protect”… something? The problem becomes that when all you hear is one thing, it becomes fact and no longer up for debate. If people were exposed to more of those they hate, there would likely be less hate in the world.
But hey, who hasn’t been there? It’s easier to hate and sit in your bubble knowing how right you are instead of talking to people and trying to change their minds. And if you don’t let their voices be heard, how can you help them grow? How can you grow as a person if you’re only ever exposed to those who agree with you?
Emphasis mine
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groupthink
I'm not disputing the official definition of groupthink. I'm challenging the idea that it is groupthink.