If you tell a big enough lie and tell it often enough, it will be believed. –A. Hitler
[NOTE: Gentle reader, please see 15 April, 2020’s posting for the context of today’s posting]
STEREOTYPES & CLICHÉS. ‘Where opinion does not exist, the status quo becomes stereotyped and all originality is discouraged.’ –Bertrand Russell. Stereotypes and Clichés serve a purpose given the enormous – and growing – amount of information that washes over us it seems with every blink we take; they serve as short-hands that save us time and energy. The downside is that both block original thinking; they provide those seeking ‘truth’ for example, a candy bar rather than a full nutritious meal.
The stereotype contains just enough truth for many of us. The ‘isms’ – racism, sexism, ageism, trumpism, etc. – are rooted in and nurtured by the stereotype and cliché and these rely on exaggeration, omission, and ignorance. They are dangerous, at best. They take one tree and call it a forest (‘All politicians are self-serving.’) More importantly these two siblings blunt, if not destroy, curiosity. They help hearts and minds to close tight and remain locked and guarded. ‘Surety’ is provided and this trumps ‘doubt’ and ‘skepticism’ (pun intended). They emphasize differences and hence separate people from one another. Any minority could tell you the impact of both upon one’s self-image. Each person in the world could tell us how much more alike we are than different, if it weren’t for stereotypes and clichés. Many years ago I was sitting in the audience listening to a remarkable woman tell her story. At one point in an attempt to be ‘open’ she remarked that she had a mouth like a construction worker. A voice from deep within the audience said, ‘I’m a construction worker and I don’t swear, curse or pimp women!’ The speaker paused, gathered herself and apologized.
GROUPTHINK. ‘A sect is an elegant incognito devised to save a man from the vexation of thinking.’ – R.W. Emerson. Irving Janis (1918-1990) was a research psychologist. In his 1972 book, ‘Victims of Group Think,’ he defined group think as loyalty to the group being more important than any other value and hence dissent and alternatives are suppressed. Group think requires a combination of other forms of lying – ignoring facts, selective memory, omission, denial and stereotyping, to name some of them.
A classic example of group think is held within one single day of infamy: 7 December, 1941. Although there were many signals and a few ‘voices’ they were ignored and silenced or dismissed because of group think. The United States is not vulnerable to attack! The Japanese cannot attack our fleet at Pearl Harbor because as we know all torpedoes require 60 feet of water depth and Pearl only has 30 (implied, if not spoken in this, was that the Japanese were not smart enough to create a torpedo that would be effective in 30 feet of water. Why? The reason was simple: we couldn’t invent one that could operate at 30 feet.). Even though the members of the Japanese consulate in Hawaii began burning papers on 5 December, 1941 we ignored this subtle signal. Within the closed network and closed minds of the top commanders in Hawaii the group think affirmed that all was well. No one at that level considered the alternatives. No one wanted to assume the risk of being wrong; no one wanted to assume the risk of going against the group. Illusion and wishful thinking trumped reality (again, pun intended).
Gentle reader, we will pick up with more ‘Lies’ next time; their number it seems is legion.
Searcher-Seeker 