I am getting the idea that Georgia is very groupthink. (Atlanta: fit in, home)

[Prichard]

Maybe you're just "wrong" and the people you think are "groupthinking" are right...

Just kidding, but me being a conservative Republican who has no problem with religion or people who want to fly the Confederate flag on their property don't think of this as "groupthink". Just a way of life. I think that the term "groupthink" relates more to small groups who are subordinate to a strong leader who chastises them for thinking any differently than he does.

[ladyhen]

I think this is typical everywhere. Where I am currently (CA), the area is HEAVILY liberal democrat. As someone who doesn't care to protest the war on a daily basis, I am actually considered one of those "idiot sheeple" by them - but it's pretty apparent who is swimming against the tide and who just goes along with what today's hot issue is. I'm the one standing on my own in the current (it's getting tiring though, and it's just one of the many reasons we're headed back to Georgia!)

[forresthills]

what are your ideas of groupthink? Just being a rebel here is being an individual but it is to often associated with racism.

[forresthills]

Originally Posted by ladyhen

I think this is typical everywhere. Where I am currently (CA), the area is HEAVILY liberal democrat. As someone who doesn't care to protest the war on a daily basis, I am actually considered one of those "idiot sheeple" by them - but it's pretty apparent who is swimming against the tide and who just goes along with what today's hot issue is. I'm the one standing on my own in the current (it's getting tiring though, and it's just one of the many reasons we're headed back to Georgia!)

Well come on back home!!

[movinonup]

Originally Posted by mr_evergreen

Where I live it seems like if you are not Republican, Protestant(I am borderline socialist and Catholic), and have an aversion to the Confederate flag, you tend to feel out of place(and many people will make you feel out of place for it). Atlanta may be the one exception but even Atlanta can be a bit "groupthink". I live in the suburbs and it seems like groupthink is the rule. According to some of my friends from the western states, GA is very groupthink and when I do look around, I see what they mean.

It sounds like what you are missing is simply your own "group thinkers". Perhaps you should live in a college town. I find that their thinking often aligns with the socialistic and even communistic viewpoint. So far as the catholic goes ????

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by Prichard

Maybe you're just "wrong" and the people you think are "groupthinking" are right...

Just kidding, but me being a conservative Republican who has no problem with religion or people who want to fly the Confederate flag on their property don't think of this as "groupthink". Just a way of life. I think that the term "groupthink" relates more to small groups who are subordinate to a strong leader who chastises them for thinking any differently than he does.

I have been chastised for having an opposing viewpoint. While most people I know say "coke" to refer to any soft drink, even if it is nowhere close to Coca-Cola. I say soda, pop, or sodapop. I have been chastised(or at least some people behaved as if it I shouldn't use that terminology) for that. Ironically I was born below the Mason-Dixon line. I have just have family from the Midwest and I grew up hearing my father call every soft drink by name or pop. It isn't so much the different view point as much as it is benig chastised for it, such as my viewpoint against the Confederate flag. Some people behave as if I should like the Confederate flag, and almost in a defensive way.

Off of my speach, you do have a point about groupthink being when you are chastised for being different from the rest.

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by movinonup

It sounds like what you are missing is simply your own "group thinkers". Perhaps you should live in a college town. I find that their thinking often aligns with the socialistic and even communistic viewpoint. So far as the catholic goes ????

I am not communist. Communists don't believe in God. I believe in God. I have political views that can be socialist, at least economically. I am not saying we should have a welfare state because a welfare state is just pure lazy in my opinion. When I mean more socialist, I mean worker socialist. I am not going to get into a politics debate. I am just trying to find out why it seems like Georgia tends to have more of a trditionalist way of thinking.

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by Georgia

I can agree and in some terms disagree.
When one lives in heavily populated area (I have lived in Philly, NYC, Chicago, and now the Atlanta area) one will find less individualism. This is why you see so many cities with "neighborhoods". Heck, I found NYC as the most groupthink environment which I have ever lived. Segregated and closed neighborhoods. Yes, you can go out to a bar and be "individual" but once you hit your area of residence you better regress to the idealology of the neighborhood.

You will find most individual thinking people in places like WV (native) Vermont and other places where they escape to in order to get away from the "rules".

Georgia is rather conservative, and very Baptist, however being agnostic myself nobody has ever judged me. I'm more of a to each is own individual. I guess you could say "Rebel" much like Southern thinking to the rest of the country.

One could even review your comments (socialist/catholic) now one could say that is the eptimy of "groupthink". With most socialist (Hollywood is a good example) you better assimilate or be damned. And the Catholic Church, should we even think about being individual there? If so, hello excommunication.

In the Catholic Church, people are not kicked out of the church and it is communism that has an "assimilate or die" policy, not socialism.

[xxman777]

I'm not going to get into a debate about whether the Catholic Church is an example of "group think" but I think the point has been well made. If you don't think the way that a particular group of people think (liberals, conservatives, catholics, atheists, etc.) and you suddenly find your self surrounding by that group you will probably think they aren't accepting of new ideas (and a lot of them probably aren't).

People find safety in numbers so when they don't have any of their own kind around are going to feel more vulnerable. I see Catholicism as an example of "group think" but I can see how somebody involved with the church wouldn't. I can also see how organizations I am involved would be considered "group think" but I personally don't think they are. I all depends on how you are looking at the situation.

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by xxman777

I'm not going to get into a debate about whether the Catholic Church is an example of "group think" but I think the point has been well made. If you don't think the way that a particular group of people think (liberals, conservatives, catholics, atheists, etc.) and you suddenly find your self surrounding by that group you will probably think they aren't accepting of new ideas (and a lot of them probably aren't).

People find safety in numbers so when they don't have any of their own kind around are going to feel more vulnerable. I see Catholicism as an example of "group think" but I can see how somebody involved with the church wouldn't. I can also see how organizations I am involved would be considered "group think" but I personally don't think they are. I all depends on how you are looking at the situation.

I know what you mean about when one doesn't think with the group those persons see it as a threat. I should know. I was around a group of people and I used the term "sodapop". One person in the group attempted to correct me and told me "it's coke". I call it sodapop, sometimes soda and sometimes pop. I get that dialect from my father, who is from Milwaukee. I'm not from there but my accent and dialect, I have been told, are similar to that of the Midwest. Enough of that. Back to the conversation about group think. I was with a groupt of people who shared conservative views. I have some socialist views on many issues, particularly economic issues. As far as moral issues go, I tend towards conservative, but my socialist views on many things tend to stick out. I have a few friends who share my views, and some who are respectful of my views, but for the most part, it seems like if you are not a Republican and you live in the South, you would be seen as a threat. Some people looked at me in shock when they found out I was not a Republican. I see what you mean when you said that when I don't share someone's viwes they feel vulnerable. The thing that has made me want to move out to the Western USA comes from some conversations with some friends who are from the Western USA. They have stated that people tend to be more indivdualistic and for the most part, one can have a civilized conversation with different views. That is only from word of mouth.