Don't Read This Blog

Free this week only, NYTimes columnist John Tierney noted Tuesday the effects of deliberation by a group of even somewhat like-minded individuals. "Groupthink" - a form of group self-deception by very similar people - has long been noted, but it's surprising to see that the result even occurs with fairly diverse groups.

But what really happens when people discuss politics? Consider an experiment last year, when groups of Coloradans convened separately in Boulder and Colorado Springs to discuss global warming, affirmative action and civil unions for same-sex couples. Before the discussions, the people in Boulder were on average more liberal than the ones in Colorado Springs, but there were also moderates in both places whose opinions overlapped.

After the group discussions, the people in Boulder moved to the left, and those in Colorado Springs moved to the right. The researchers — David Schkade, Cass Sunstein and Reid Hastie — concluded that “the major effect of deliberation was to make group members more extreme than they were before they started to talk.”...

Thanks to cable television, talk radio and the Internet, it’s easier than ever for people to have their opinions validated around the clock. As the media audiences segregate themselves ideologically, they become more extreme in their views — and more convinced than ever that they represent the sensible middle.

So what's a nation to do? Either stop reading blogs and listening to talk radio and discussing politics with friends - or expose ourselves to a diversity of opinions, something Global Review has always striven to do for readers.