THE "GROUP-THINK" IMPULSE

Stand up for the truth. Romans 12:2 says, "...Do not be conformed to this world..." [NKJV]

People today show a stong tendency to adjust their opinions to match those of the group. This goes a long way towards explaining why only a fraction of the educated population of North America (or anywhere else for that matter) is prepared to think for themselves, even where issues of grave importance are involved.

In his book, "Iconoclast," Dr. Gregory Berns says, "Iconoclastic thinking is a minority trait. The brain is hard wired to conform."

He points to a study in which a group of people were recruited for a project, but first tested privately. On their own, these individuals determined the correct answer to a question 86% of the time.

But when told that their group had given a different answer to the question (which in fact was the wrong answer), almost a third of those tested abandoned the correct answer in order to conform with the prevailing opinion of the group.

Obviously, the degree to which this "group think"

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