I’m only posting this to play devils advocate, if not to stir up the debate a bit. I apologize for any spelling or grammatical errors. English isn’t my first language.
To make groupthink testable, Irving Janis devised eight symptoms indicative of groupthink (1977).
(My interpretations may be flawed, feel free to point out any flaws in my logic)
> 1. Illusions of invulnerability creating excessive optimism and encouraging risk taking.
Cryonics = eternal life in the future, relatively high financial risk, relatively low risk of being revived. The risk is still worth if if you could possibly be alive again.
> 2. Rationalizing warnings that might challenge the group’s assumptions.
Reanimation in the future might be expensive, reanimation might not be possible, Alcor may go bankrupt, Consciousness may not be transferable, reanimation is not possible now.
> 3. Unquestioned belief in the morality of the group, causing members to ignore the consequences of their actions.
The diehards of the group seem to take no hesitation to call another person outside of their name if they simply do not agree with those who support cryonics.
>4. Stereotyping those who are opposed to the group as weak, evil, biased, spiteful, disfigured, impotent, or stupid.
“If you don’t sign your child up for cryonics you’re a lousy parent”
> 5. Direct pressure to conform placed on any member who questions the group, couched in terms of “disloyalty”.
Not so much pressure as people questioning those who aren’t yet sold on cryonics just yet, or those who don’t believe in it all together.
>6. Self censorship of ideas that deviate from the apparent group consensus.
This obviously can’t be proven, I’m assuming some have omitted statements from their replies to this article to avoid conflict.
>7. Illusions of unanimity among group members, silence is viewed as agreement.
I’m not so sure if there is an illusion of unanimity, seems that everyone is in agreement that cryonics is a logical/rational choice. This maybe be an illusion, I don’t know.
>8. Mind guards — self-appointed members who shield the group from dissenting information.
Hello Eliezer.
I’d like to state that I have no intentions of attacking anyone discussing this topic. I’m only trying to stir up friendly debate.
Actually, devil’s advocacy is probably the best way to prevent group think (outside of earnest dissent). So well done.
It also occurs to me that some people holding a belief as a result of group think is entirely consistent with the belief being true and even justified—which is an interesting feature that isn’t always be obvious. I think I represent a partial data point against group think in this case because I have a something of a revulsion against the aesthetics of cryonics, some of the social implications and some of the arrogance I see in it’s promotion but nonetheless conclude that it is probably a worthwhile gamble.
Re: Groupthink symptom #1 - illusions of invulnerability or infallibility
The fact that the subject matter of cryonics is about an extended lifespan or second lifespan does not automatically confer this symptom of groupthink.
An example of groupthink often given is the decision process of the Bush Administration which led to the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Much of the information used to come to that decision was ‘slam dunk’ pre-invasion, but ultimately spurious or unverifiable.
I’m only posting this to play devils advocate, if not to stir up the debate a bit. I apologize for any spelling or grammatical errors. English isn’t my first language.
(My interpretations may be flawed, feel free to point out any flaws in my logic)
> 1. Illusions of invulnerability creating excessive optimism and encouraging risk taking. Cryonics = eternal life in the future, relatively high financial risk, relatively low risk of being revived. The risk is still worth if if you could possibly be alive again.
> 2. Rationalizing warnings that might challenge the group’s assumptions. Reanimation in the future might be expensive, reanimation might not be possible, Alcor may go bankrupt, Consciousness may not be transferable, reanimation is not possible now.
> 3. Unquestioned belief in the morality of the group, causing members to ignore the consequences of their actions. The diehards of the group seem to take no hesitation to call another person outside of their name if they simply do not agree with those who support cryonics.
>4. Stereotyping those who are opposed to the group as weak, evil, biased, spiteful, disfigured, impotent, or stupid. “If you don’t sign your child up for cryonics you’re a lousy parent”
> 5. Direct pressure to conform placed on any member who questions the group, couched in terms of “disloyalty”. Not so much pressure as people questioning those who aren’t yet sold on cryonics just yet, or those who don’t believe in it all together.
>6. Self censorship of ideas that deviate from the apparent group consensus. This obviously can’t be proven, I’m assuming some have omitted statements from their replies to this article to avoid conflict.
>7. Illusions of unanimity among group members, silence is viewed as agreement. I’m not so sure if there is an illusion of unanimity, seems that everyone is in agreement that cryonics is a logical/rational choice. This maybe be an illusion, I don’t know.
>8. Mind guards — self-appointed members who shield the group from dissenting information. Hello Eliezer.
I’d like to state that I have no intentions of attacking anyone discussing this topic. I’m only trying to stir up friendly debate.
Actually, devil’s advocacy is probably the best way to prevent group think (outside of earnest dissent). So well done.
It also occurs to me that some people holding a belief as a result of group think is entirely consistent with the belief being true and even justified—which is an interesting feature that isn’t always be obvious. I think I represent a partial data point against group think in this case because I have a something of a revulsion against the aesthetics of cryonics, some of the social implications and some of the arrogance I see in it’s promotion but nonetheless conclude that it is probably a worthwhile gamble.
Re: Groupthink symptom #1 - illusions of invulnerability or infallibility
The fact that the subject matter of cryonics is about an extended lifespan or second lifespan does not automatically confer this symptom of groupthink.
An example of groupthink often given is the decision process of the Bush Administration which led to the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Much of the information used to come to that decision was ‘slam dunk’ pre-invasion, but ultimately spurious or unverifiable.