Dorris Lessing, in her essay “Group Minds,” first illustrates that people “all live [their] lives in groups” (47) and that it is not the fact that people live in groups that is dangerous, but rather the fact that people live in groups and are “not understanding the social laws that govern groups” (48). Lessing also points out that while many different people are aware of the tendency to conform or submit in a group, nobody “instruct[s] their members in the laws of crowd psychology” (62).
One point that Lessing makes is that people in groups tend to “think as that group does” (48). Groups make it “the hardest thing in the world to maintain an individual dissident opinion” (48), and people in groups are often “more dependent on brand names and on packaging than [they would] like to think” (52). Lessing provides three well-known experiments/tests (one of them being the Milgram experiment), four different literature related examples, an example from war-time, and an experiment she conducted herself. The examples and experiments that Lessing provides, prove that many people give in because they fear peer group pressure, or they simply follow the instructions given.
To demonstrate how the “pressures from inside, which demand that you should conform…are the hardest to watch and to control” (55), Lessing uses two more literature related examples, another example from war-time, statistics, and a well-known experiment. Using the several different examples and evidence, Lessing is able to present how people “must be on [their] guard against [their] own most primitive reactions and instincts” (58). However, Lessing also points out that while the majority of people give in to groups, there is “10% of the population, who can be called natural leaders, who do follow their own minds into decisions and choices” (53).
Lessing is able to declare that various nations and states, even democratic ones, fail to teach their citizens how to “free themselves from governmental and state rhetoric and pressure” (60). Although Lessing acknowledges that nations rely on this “passionate loyalty and subjection to group pressure” (60), she points out that teaching people about their own behavior could have its benefits. If people were able to “contemplate these rules calmly, dispassionately, disinterestedly, without emotion…[it would] set people free from blind loyalties, obedience to slogans, rhetoric, leaders, [and] group emotions” (60).
One point that Lessing makes is that people in groups tend to “think as that group does” (48). Groups make it “the hardest thing in the world to maintain an individual dissident opinion” (48), and people in groups are often “more dependent on brand names and on packaging than [they would] like to think” (52). Lessing provides three well-known experiments/tests (one of them being the Milgram experiment), four different literature related examples, an example from war-time, and an experiment she conducted herself. The examples and experiments that Lessing provides, prove that many people give in because they fear peer group pressure, or they simply follow the instructions given.
To demonstrate how the “pressures from inside, which demand that you should conform…are the hardest to watch and to control” (55), Lessing uses two more literature related examples, another example from war-time, statistics, and a well-known experiment. Using the several different examples and evidence, Lessing is able to present how people “must be on [their] guard against [their] own most primitive reactions and instincts” (58). However, Lessing also points out that while the majority of people give in to groups, there is “10% of the population, who can be called natural leaders, who do follow their own minds into decisions and choices” (53).
Lessing is able to declare that various nations and states, even democratic ones, fail to teach their citizens how to “free themselves from governmental and state rhetoric and pressure” (60). Although Lessing acknowledges that nations rely on this “passionate loyalty and subjection to group pressure” (60), she points out that teaching people about their own behavior could have its benefits. If people were able to “contemplate these rules calmly, dispassionately, disinterestedly, without emotion…[it would] set people free from blind loyalties, obedience to slogans, rhetoric, leaders, [and] group emotions” (60).
A link to an online version of Dorris Lessing's "Group Minds" can be found here
*citations may not match up*
*citations may not match up*