Two things I listened to today brought up the topic of groupthink in relation to Covid-19. I think it’s too easy for those in a seemingly minority position to accuse the perceived majority of groupthink.
Instead, I turn inward and look at my own penchant for confirmation bias. The strange events of the last year have divided society cleanly into believers in Lockdown and the skeptical. The problem with this cleavage is that it doesn’t afford these two groups any opportunity to sit down together in person and discuss their differences.
The only people who will meet and talk with me largely agree that masks, Lockdown, and the general fear over Covid-19 are out of balance with the threat. The hazard of groupthink among this minority seems just as dangerous as among those who would sit in front of their TVs and believe the talking heads. We share belief-confirming articles and podcasts and generally support one another with a confidence that we are sane in an insane world.
I’m uneasy when everyone agrees.
I don’t read a lot of the mainstream articles. I haven’t for years. I was a nerdy teenager watching Newt Gingrich give a speech on the House floor on C-SPAN one night after busing tables in the 90s. The next day I heard a media outlet clearly twist his words with clever editing. Then there was the Summer of the Shark in 2001 when shark attacks were slightly down from the previous year, but they were the biggest story until the terrorist attacks of 9/11. It was an embarrassingly long time before I finally took the red pill and saw both the “Right” and “Left” corporate media for the mainstream narrative parrots that they are.
There’s a joke about taking just one red pill, not the whole bottle. I’ve probably taken two or three. I don’t go in for half measures and corporate media, public education, and mainstream narratives have never treated me well.
I certainly haven’t slipped into conspiratorial thinking, but I like listening to those who have, their insights can be more valuable than anything you’ll find in the approved mouthpieces.
Have I fallen into a type of groupthink? I don’t think so. Before finding this new social circle, I lost connections with too many communities: homeschool, faith, and family. I was in the dumps because I was an outlier in my Lockdown skepticism. I’m feeling the weight of depression again. The path I’ve chosen sucks. I hope that’s an indicator that even if I am wrong, I’m no victim of groupthink.
The media that got me on this kick: