Maybe my disdain for GroupThink is a result of growing up in The Worldwide Church of God (lovingly referred to as the world wide web by my college friends), when it was still fashionable and lucrative to be cultish. Our edict was to stay away from “the world.” We thought of ourselves as God’s One True Chosen People and the rest of the world as “the world.” We were encouraged to have no friends in the world. Dating in the world was frowned upon. Dating in general was frowned upon. I had lots of sleepovers with church girls.There were times as a congregant of the WWCG that I’d walk into our ramshackle church building–sometimes a rented mint green bingo hall, sometimes a Woodmen of the World Insurance building–and the GroupThink energy would almost literally blind me. I’d spend half of a church service sitting out in the car, fending off an impending migraine.
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Or maybe it’s being a writer that made me hate GroupThink. Or maybe my hatred of GroupThink made me a writer. Writing is the same as swimming. You do it. You have friends who do it. You admire many of your friends’ skill and passion. You get together a few times a year to get drunk with congratulations (literally drunk and congratulating each other). You go back to your life, which generally consists of many hours of solitary sitting and thinking. Phone calls here and there. You go to coffee shops to write where there are plenty of strangers, many of whom you like to talk to. You love city streets and parks where packs of dogs play. You love the chance encounter. But then you really love that when it’s time to part ways, nobody’s asking you to mobilize anything, or to congregate, or to create a supportive network of such-and-such.And yet, GroupThinkers have been known to accomplish great things. Aside from killing Jews, raising Inquisitions, championing unchecked capitalism, and plotting the deaths of every citizen of the West, GroupThink also saves baby seals, bans shark fin soup, organizes revolts and protests, gives people purpose, makes people feel less alone…
4 comments:
I visited a Mormon church service and noticed every man was wearing black trousers and white shirt. The messages were focusing on being a better person to be accepted by God. I felt the same oppressive feeling as I did in the WCG at AC in the early 70's. Talk about group think.
It's all about being model prisoners in your particular prison so you don't offend the Guards and get thrown in the hole.
Very thoughtful observations. They don't call them uniforms for nothing. Humans can be uniforms in the flesh if they are not careful and don't give up critical thinking. Well, just thinking is a start.
"Who is more to be pitied, a writer bound and gagged by policemen, or one living in perfect freedom who has nothing more to say?" -- Kurt Vonnegut
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