Reply #1: I heard... [View All]

[sendero]

.... an author on the Diane Rehm show last week. He wrote a book, about decision making using groups versus individuals.

His claim is that a group of people will always (within certain constraints) make a better decision than even the brightest individuals.

He pointed to many studies and examples. But, he admitted there are pitfalls. For example, in a group setting, people who are more vocal have more influence even though they might not have the best ideas.

My point is this - I wish there was another term for this instead of "groupthink". Because thinking back on my professional life, I have not one doubt that a group of people will make a better decision than an individual - but only if everyone gets to contribute and is heard.

What we had leading up to the war was not "groupthink" at all, it was "echo chamber" - a self-enforcing group of people all spouting the same bullshit, some of them knowing full well it was bullshit. There was no attempt to make the right decision, just make the one Bush* wanted.