Post No. 127c: Article of Interest on the Downside Associated with Conformity

The following article is taken from the July 24, 2009 electronic edition of the New York Times. It really made us stop and think about many of our social institutions. It is well worth the read.


Researcher Condemns Conformity Among His Peers

By Nicholas Wade

"'Academics, like teenagers [and college students], sometimes don’t have any sense regarding the degree to which they are conformists.'

"So says Thomas Bouchard, the Minnesota psychologist known for his study of twins raised apart, in a retirement interview with Constance Holden in the journal Science.

"Journalists, of course, are conformists too. So are most other professions. There’s a powerful human urge to belong inside the group, to think like the majority, to lick the boss’s shoes, and to win the group’s approval by trashing dissenters...."

To view the remainder of the article, simply click here.