In the diagram below, which other line is the same length as the reference line on the left?
It’s “C,” of course. “C” and the reference line are clearly the same length.
It turns out that when we throw you into a room of other people and a couple before you say that it’s “A,” at least 30% of the people reading this will conform, and agree that it must be “A.”
If we extend this out to a series of tests, at least 75% will give an incorrect answer at least once.
Solomon Asch ran this experiment back in the 50’s, and the takeaway is that peer pressure causes conformity.
“The subject denies the evidence of his own eyes and yields to group influence.”
Not only do we like to surround ourselves with people who believe what we believe, but we also like to be seen to believe what those who surround us believe.
Whether it’s the business you start, or the food that you eat, that’s a big difference.
Now, when you’re subjected to peer pressure (social media, TV, your neighbours) is it causing you to “see” differently? Does it change your perception of reality? Or, does it just cause you to “say” something in agreement to not cause a stir?
In the short run there’s a slight difference of course, but if we map it out over time I’d argue it likely points to a similar outcome.
Eventually, what we see matches the story we tell ourselves, and future generations are simply surrounded by more confederates.
