Sunday, October 2, 2011

Entry 6: Social Group Dynamics, Obedience, and Conformity

After class on Wednesday, I was walking down
9th Street by the library. I noticed I started running my hand along 
the bushes I was walking next to. So I stopped, and was kind of trying to 
figure out why I started doing that in the first place. Then, I saw the person in 
front of me doing it. He stopped a few seconds later, but I saw the
guy in front of him was doing it too. I don't know if this
was exactly conformity, but it was funny to observe. 

I honestly find myself doing things like that all the time, though.
For instance, right when I met my best friend's roommate, Rachel,  I really
like her bangs. After Rachel left, I told my friend, Sasha, I liked
Rachel's bangs. Sasha told me she knew, because I was playing with my hair
the entire time. I'm not sure how exactly to define conformity, but for me,
I usually do things I know someone else can relate to on some level. 
Those are the bangs.

Even though I had already read the Milgram experiment, it was 
interesting to restudy it. I honestly don't know what I would do
in that situation. I think everyone would hope to be able to stand up,
and stop delivering the shocks, but easier said than done. I'm very easily 
persuaded, and if someone can verbally defend a point, they pretty 
much have won me over. This is good because I'm open-minded,
but horrible because literally every position can be argued. 

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