Wild Minds Weekly: You were right, now what?
Hello friends,
We'd all rather be wrong about where the world is heading, but on some level, it feels good. It feels validating to hear people start to take notice of the things you noticed a long time ago. But we're in danger. In danger of falling into the majority.
Why isn't that a good thing?
You're here because you think differently. You saw things others hadn't seen yet, and decided you wanted to be a part of building a future that you actually want to live in. But you're not the only one.
More people are waking up, they're calling it 'The Great Awakening'. People are realising that we've been herded like sheep to serve a system that doesn't align with how we want to live our lives.
But when more people around us believe what we believe, the more deeply ingrained those beliefs become. And the easier it is to stop questioning them and any new beliefs that make their way into the group. We stop thinking independently. We follow the 'Wisdom of the Crowd'.
The Wisdom of the Crowd is an idea that many people misinterpret to mean that the conclusion that most people arrive at is the one that's probably true. And people use this to justify their views on a topic they're not super well informed on because "If everyone's doing it, it must be okay".
It's a valid idea. Human society was built on cooperation and we can't always build our own belief systems from scratch...
But there's one key problem.
The wisdom of the crowd only applies when everyone in the crowd is thinking independently. If a majority of independent thinkers come to the same conclusion, then it's most likely that that conclusion is correct. That's reasonable.
You see the problem?
What part of that statement isn't realistic?
When have you ever seen a crowd think independently?
Most people defer judgement to others. It becomes easier to do that the more you become the majority because questioning and updating your beliefs takes effort.
In Solomon Asch's conformity experiments, 75% of people denied what their own eyes told them about how long a line was.
Why?
Simply because everyone else in the room (actors) gave a different answer. They believed everyone else knew something they didn't.
So as our movement grows, as more people join Wild Minds Network, as good as it feels to have your beliefs confirmed, something I have to constantly remind myself is,
'Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.' - Mark Twain
To your freedom and independent thought,
Wild Minds Community
PS. Wild Minds Network isn't about creating another echo chamber. It's about building a community that challenges you to keep questioning, where independent thinking isn't just welcomed, it's required. If you're ready to take real action towards independence click here to join us in Wild Minds Network.
