Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Group minds doris lessing thesis
Essay about Doris reducing group minds
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Group minds doris lessing thesis
Group Minds
Doris Lessing’s definitions of Group Minds suggest that, as humans, we are group animals, which means we make decisions as a group. There are always two sides to a decision. There is a place where her argument is flawed, and that is in sports. This argument is flawed, because in sports there will always be two sides. Let 's say we were talking about who is better: Kobe Bryant or Michael Jordan. People would discuss and analyze the material for hours if not days. We would never come to a group minded decision, because that’s how much people are not group minded when it comes to sports. It is actually how many times I have experienced group arguments about sports, and they last forever. In society, despite the rhetoric of Individualism, people who prefer to be alone are seen as weird, and being antisocial is seen as being a bad thing in our society. Our society wants to praise the people who are most popular and who the public likes.
…show more content…
If you are studying together it is very helpful, and you will get a lot done. Also, with a group mind, if you are doing a project for work/school there is always somebody there to look over your work, just in case you mess up. Then, if you are doing a project with some a lot of calculations, having a group is very helpful. In case you mess up or just do not see a mistake you made on a calculation and correct it, so you do not have to get some points taken off for getting it wrong. There are pros and cons to this subject matter, but I think the cons outweigh the pros.
Group minds can affect your peer editing groups because different people have opinions on how work should be done. According to Lessing “ When we are in a group, we tend to think as the group does”(334). So if we all think alike in the group, we will see the same corrections in the paper. A group can really improve your writing, for example when we were in class and we did the editing it really helped me
All human actions and responses are influenced by someone or something. For humans, being independent is an unrealistic claim. Claiming to be a completely free and independent individual sounds naive . To be independent means being free from outside control. Humans claim to be a part of a free society, as free individuals, making independent choices, but they’re wrong. In the article, “Group Minds,” Doris Lessing provides a clear argument against the concept of human’s claim to independence. Lessing’s article is an attempt to make the public aware of outside pressures and the reality of our naive claim to individualism and independence.
I have worked with groups ALOT, I am an Avid student so every Tuesday and Thursday we break into to small groups and to tutorials. On Friday we do team building and get together with the other class and play games talk about certain things. I work in groups every day in almost all of my classes. I can work with anyone even if we aren't the closest of
This accredited notion that group work is going to work faster at producing a better solution to a problem is false. The logic behind this idea—more brainpower which would lead to more ideas then leading to better ideas—is fallacious. We, as a society, have entered into an era where we believe that the best work that is going to be done, is done collectively, not individually. In Quiet by Susan Cain, she calls this new idea “New Groupthink” she then defines it as “a phenomenon that has the potential to stifle productivity at work and to deprive schoolchildren of the skills they’ll need to achieve excellence in an increasingly competitive world. New Groupthink elevates teamwork above all else” (Cain 75). In classrooms all around the world, there is the emphasis on grouping up to solve a problem. It is safe to say that most people have experienced someone telling them to team up and brainstorm a solution. But does it work? For extroverts, it works wonders. For introverts, not so much. In “Learning to Think and Thinking to Learn” by Kate Kline, Kline discusses how group discussions tend to go when having introverts and extroverts both participate, “Extroverts tend to process and think while they are talking. In other words, an extrovert is able to think out loud. Introverts, on the other hand, must think carefully before speaking. This is often why introverts have difficulty participating in group discussions—they are processing ideas. Just when
In 1972, Irving Janis presented a set of hypothesis that he extracted from observing small groups performing problem solving tasks; he collectively referred to these hypotheses as groupthink¹. He defined groupthink as “a quick and easy way to refer to a mode of thinking that people engage in when they are deeply involved in a cohesive in-group, when the members’ striving for unanimity override their motivation to realistically appraise alternative courses of action²” A successful group brings varied ideas, collective knowledge, and focus on the task at hand. The importance of groups is to accomplish tasks that individuals can not do on their own. The Bay of Pigs, Watergate, and the Challenger disaster are all forms of failure within a group. Specifically, you can see the effect of groupthink of Americans before September 11, 2001. The thought of harm to the United States was unfathomable, but only after the attacks did they realize they were not invincible. When a solid, highly cohesive group is only concerned with maintaining agreement, they fail to see their alternatives and any other available options. When a group experiences groupthink, they may feel uninterested about a task, don't feel like they will be successful, and the group members do not challenge ideas. Stress is also a factor in the failure of groupthink. An effective group needs to have clear goals, trust, accountability, support, and training. Some indicators that groupthink may be happening are; making unethical decisions, they think they are never wrong, close-minded about situations, and ignore important information. Many things can be done to prevent groupthink from happening. One way is to make each person in the group a “critical evaluator”. The leader must ...
... that areas of expertise can be exploited, different people are good at different things. Groups can discuss material, and that discussion can improve the quality of the decision. Groups are less likely to suffer from judgmental biases that individuals have when they make decisions. People are more likely to follow through on decisions made by groups that they are connected to. Also, more monumental decisions can be made in groups, because one member will not be singled out for blame, making the entire group responsible.
Everyday a war is being waged, not in foreign countries- but in small neighborhoods and capital cities all over the world. A timeless battle to retain individual thought and action in an increasingly conformist society. The concept of a unanimous group-thinking society can be witnessed throughout history in the form of political controversies to pop culture and trends, to subtle influences in everyday life. The short narrative “Shooting an Elephant” written by George Orwell is a perfect example of group-thinking that implicates that to be accepted into these societal groups, one must do what is right by them, and not by the individual. Throughout the narrative, the author is influenced by increasing pressures from the crowd to shoot the elephant although it goes against his own personal convictions. The author desires to be accepted into the native's lives; no longer a social outcast. However, with this desire comes the knowledge that the group may or may not be correct in their brutal quest for blood.
Many people believe they are their own person and are free to make their own choices; however, few explore just how much a group can influence their behavior. This realm of influential group power has been analyzed by several psychologist to see how far people will bend to stay within a group mentality. Psychologists Asch, Zimbardo, McEwan, and Lessing defined a group mind as a mass of people who ignore their own morals and conscious to act as one whole entity because of obedience and pressure. As a result, this creates the potential for the group to become a destructively dangerous force.
After reading Stanley Milgram experiment I thought it was a little crazy. The experiment did really upset me. Some people are going to far they could really hurt somebody. Just because someone is telling them to do it. They could hurt or kill innocent people. It did shock me when a lot more people kept on going. They were afraid that something would happen to listener and they don't want responsibility. People are always told to listen to authority but you have to think about what's right and wrong they could tell you to do anything dangerous.
According to Education Corner, study groups provide an excellent means for students to compare class lecture notes. Comparing notes allow students to fill in any information or important concepts that they may have missed during lecture. Therefore, through learning in group, students can exchange notes and ideas about the lesson. Students who exchange notes and ideas can improve their knowledge. For example, students can exchange about their think or way to easy remember a note. In addition, learning in group can easy for students to understand about lecture note and student who not know about subject can ask their group member to teach them. It will help students to improve their knowledge and understanding about learning. Based on Schoenherr (2006), when students work together in collaborative teams in classroom, they learn material better than when they sit alone at their desks. Hence, learning in group can change different idea with member in group its better than study alone. So that, to get Dean’s List every semester, students must study in
Building self-esteem, enhancing student satisfaction with the learning experience, and promoting a positive attitude toward the subject matter are all benefits of collaborative learning. A higher degree of accomplishment takes place as a group because you essentially are a team. An example of this is a sports team. In a collaborative situation it takes every member to do his or her part in order for a situation to have a greater resolution; as where a sports team needs everybody’s individual talent to win a game. In retrospect, as a group; the contributions of our own talents can make the difference between a “win or Lose situation” it gives you a sense of competition, and knowing that you can win as a group; self esteem in one’s self is accentuated. Johnson and Johnson (1989), Slavin (1967). Another benefit to collaborative learning is based on the members of your group. Every individual in the group demonstrates their own input based on where they were born, what nationality they are so on and so on. The benefit of this is that you get a different perspective on things rather than always knowing what you know. You can take information from other cultures and add or apply it to what you already know.
According to Irving Janis, “Groupthink refers to a deterioration of mental efficiency, reality testing, and moral judgment that results from in-group pressures”(Mathern, 2013). Groupthink and the affect it has on groups have been studied for many decades. Research has been conducted to find out exactly how prevalent groupthink is in today’s society. Group dynamics have especially been studied in relation to groupthink. It has been hypothesized that, “all members should have an equal influential role within the group” (Mathern, 2013). Mathern (2103) also states that this theory is not always true because people with stronger social skills will feel like they have more of the authority to speak up. Mathern (2013) then goes on to discuss how this then leads to the symptoms of groupthink since the people with weaker social skills do not always want to disrupt the harmony of the group.
Working together with other people for an assignment can be a challenging task in some cases but luckily, I worked well with my group members. The decisions we made were anonymous although we paced ourselves individually when it came to completing our separate parts of the essay. As a group I believe that we connected well on an interpersonal level as all four of us were able to make alterations to any problem together . Furthermore, we did not give each other a chance to get angry at one another as we knew that this would only cause conflict that would disrupt our flow as a group. There was an equal divide in the amount of work that we all did; our contributions were fair and no one was lacking behind. In addition, my group members were great at keeping each other informed if one of us were not able to attend a group meeting; emails were sent out informing us what we missed and ideas that were formulated. Everyone in my group worked according to deadlines and in synchronization with each other; we did not have to nag anyone to complete work or wait on a member to complete their task.
The downside of this is that you can get distracted in a group versus alone. I can go on and on saying good thing about one and the other, but the bad site is catch up for each one. As you can see comparing this too team would give a lot to think, for example I prefer to study alone for the test because I can focus on what I need, but when I get stuck with a problem there no one to help me and when I get in a group I don 't work that fast and I still can learn a few things but in some point we all change our topic to something not related at all to the homework. Not saying that I choose to study alone or in groups just explaining you what I really think of this two.
Several experiments and researches have been conducted that have focused on how people behave in groups. The findings have revealed that groups affect peoples’ attitudes, behavior and perceptions. Groups are essential for personal life, as well as in work life.
My goal as a teacher is to improve my student’s education and help them grow knowledgably. I like to see students at different levels develop with each other and learn. I want to challenge the students and watch them grow to their highest level of education. Therefore, having the students in groups is the best educational strategy I like to use a lot. I want my students to have freedom with whatever creativity they want, and to allow them to express themselves at any time. With this freedom students will be able to experiment with likes and dislikes and be able to figure their weaknesses and strengths. Education is for everyone and it’s a right by low for all; teachers, on the other hand, should do their jobs very honestly and effectively.