The Wisdom of Crowds, Revisited: When The Crowd Goes From Wise to Wrong Maria Konnikova on June 2, 2011, 9:17 AM http://bigthink.com/ideas/38679?utm..._s_Newsletter_August_15_2011&utm_medium=email Well I think this article does a very good job of backing up my position that the majority position is often wrong, and I think it does a very good job of expanding on that issue. I even see ways it can apply to this forum.
Mob rule . Get Franky's monster. Ah Yeah . Media hype . Look at how Hitler utilized the mob . Good bull shitters get there way if they can control what the mob thinks . The sustainable rhetoric is good at mob control . What they do is give you a this or that scenario. So the public will choose the lesser of 2 evils . Which is what they wanted you to choose in the beginning . It is an old sales trick . It works and no matter how much I try to show people the sales trick I be the bad guy for not jumping feet first into the sales promotion. Oh well . I don't try to be the lone wolf . It just comes out that way
It's hard not to get into the mob spirit, at the moment it's happening. Have you ever noticed how during presidential elections how they try and use the polls to show they have the lead. Lot's of people want to be on the winning side even if it means changing their vote.
I would say that is so right and when the underdog becomes the winner we love em even more . I say this from my own experience of winning on the parade of Homes as a builder . It is euphoric and the crowd gets swept right up in the energy . I was surprised at how everyone was my friend face to face . Even my competitors that would rather I go out of business in reality . Direct competition. We play thew nice game at the state conventions and at trade functions , but we don't ever forget we are fighting for the same pool of business deals . That makes businesses that compete rather sharky .
"Sharky" might be someone's name but I doubt it's a real word with a dictionary definition. But not to worry I know what you meant. So do you think that mob mentality works on a forum with anonymous posters?
Actually, Surowiecki explicitly states that the wisdom of the crowd evaporates when subjected to the excessive influence of persons with a stake in the outcome of the issue. For instance, in US presidential elections in recent years, I've made the point on other fora that, as the corporate media increasingly put forward candidates of the "Tweedlee-Dum/Tweedeee Dee" variety, the true wisdom of the crowd is to be found, not in the folks who fall for that crap, but in the increasing number of registered, eligible voters who abstain from voting. Thus, even while the corporate media keep presenting things in terms of Democrat/Republican, Red State/Blue State, they ignore the most fundamental political division in this country, which is Voter vs. Non-Voter. They seem to want this divide to disappear, as its very existence and growth is a sign of their own loss of control over the minds of the American body politic.
a "mob mentality" can hardly be called sane and sober. "the sober second opinion of the people is seldom wrong" i think this can be attributed to thomas jefferson.
You may have something there. I'm tired of going to the polls so I can vote against people or things ( the least bad alternative ). Whatever happened to having choices that you actually want to vote for?
I really want a "none of the above," option. If NOTA wins, then you have to run the election over with a whole new slate.
