The Numbers Game

[billmcmurdo 462]

http://billmcmurdo.wordpress.com/2012/12/27/the-numbers-game/

[will_1974 204]

The term 'Groupthink' comes to mind.

Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people, in which the desire for harmony or conformity in the group results in an incorrect or deviant decision-making outcome. Group members try to minimize conflict and reach a consensus decision without critical evaluation of alternative ideas or viewpoints. Loyalty to the group requires individuals to avoid raising controversial issues or alternative solutions. The dysfunctional group dynamics produces an "illusion of invulnerabilty" (inflated certainty that the right decision has been made). The primary socially negative cost of groupthink is the loss of individual creativity, uniqueness, and independent thinking.

[Bears r us 30,810]

Boom ! I wonder who Bill might have in mind. lol.

[Uncle Fester 186]

Bill did you have the choice of selecting the annoying as fuck jumping page that made me stop attempting to read after a paragraph?

[billmcmurdo 462]

Bill did you have the choice of selecting the annoying as fuck jumping page that made me stop attempting to read after a paragraph?

Might be the snow effect from Wordpress - now removed

Or a glitch

[Carsons Dog 9,878]

The term 'Groupthink' comes to mind.

Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people, in which the desire for harmony or conformity in the group results in an incorrect or deviant decision-making outcome. Group members try to minimize conflict and reach a consensus decision without critical evaluation of alternative ideas or viewpoints. Loyalty to the group requires individuals to avoid raising controversial issues or alternative solutions. The dysfunctional group dynamics produces an "illusion of invulnerabilty" (inflated certainty that the right decision has been made). The primary socially negative cost of groupthink is the loss of individual creativity, uniqueness, and independent thinking.

Great find

[will_1974 204]

Groupthink Symptoms

To make groupthink testable, Irving Janis devised eight symptoms indicative of groupthink.

Type I: Overestimations of the group — its power and morality

• Illusions of invulnerability creating excessive optimism and encouraging risk taking.
  
• Unquestioned belief in the morality of the group, causing members to ignore the consequences of their actions.
  

Type II: Closed-mindedness

• Rationalizing warnings that might challenge the group's assumptions.
  
• Stereotyping those who are opposed to the group as weak, evil, biased, spiteful, impotent, or stupid.
  

Type III: Pressures toward uniformity

• Self-censorship of ideas that deviate from the apparent group consensus.
  
• Illusions of unanimity among group members, silence is viewed as agreement.
  
• Direct pressure to conform placed on any member who questions the group, couched in terms of "disloyalty"
  
• Mind guards— self-appointed members who shield the group from dissenting information.
  

Groupthink, resulting from the symptoms listed above, results in defective decision-making. That is, consensus-driven decisions are the result of the following practices of groupthinking^[11]

• Incomplete survey of alternatives
  
• Incomplete survey of objectives
  
• Failure to examine risks of preferred choice
  
• Failure to reevaluate previously rejected alternatives
  
• Poor information search
  
• Selection bias in collecting information
  
• Failure to work out contingency plans.
  

[govanblue 16,847]

Groupthink Symptoms

To make groupthink testable, Irving Janis devised eight symptoms indicative of groupthink.

Type I: Overestimations of the group — its power and morality

• Illusions of invulnerability creating excessive optimism and encouraging risk taking.
  
• Unquestioned belief in the morality of the group, causing members to ignore the consequences of their actions.
  

Type II: Closed-mindedness

• Rationalizing warnings that might challenge the group's assumptions.
  
• Stereotyping those who are opposed to the group as weak, evil, biased, spiteful, impotent, or stupid.
  

Type III: Pressures toward uniformity

• Self-censorship of ideas that deviate from the apparent group consensus.
  
• Illusions of unanimity among group members, silence is viewed as agreement.
  
• Direct pressure to conform placed on any member who questions the group, couched in terms of "disloyalty"
  
• Mind guards— self-appointed members who shield the group from dissenting information.
  

Groupthink, resulting from the symptoms listed above, results in defective decision-making. That is, consensus-driven decisions are the result of the following practices of groupthinking^[11]

• Incomplete survey of alternatives
  
• Incomplete survey of objectives
  
• Failure to examine risks of preferred choice
  
• Failure to reevaluate previously rejected alternatives
  
• Poor information search
  
• Selection bias in collecting information
  
• Failure to work out contingency plans.
  

To summarise:

They're all dobbers!

[Blumhoilann 6,712]

...or bankers

[Bear78 96]

Well done Bill, 'inflatable John's