Dialogue event chapter synopsis for tomorrow Wednesday January 8

Tomorrow evening Wednesday January 8, at the Humainologie Gallery and Store, 1514 Seventh Street SW, our dialogue (with dessert buffet and book giftival) begins at 6 PM. I’ve appended herewith a synopsis of Chapter 14 from Robert Greene’s book The Laws of Human Nature, which might help us enrich our contributions to the dialogue.

Looking forward,

Arthur

Book Chapter: (Robert Greene) The Laws of Human Nature (2018), Chapter Fourteen

We’re familiar with the dialectical tension between the concept “group genius” and the concept “the madness of crowds.” If they know how to go about it, a (small) group of people can steadily build a collective wisdom that no one person in the group could have achieved alone. That’s why we do our dialogues. A network of such small groups might extend that group genius, and modern civilization could be taken as one example (containing within it many examples) of what can be accomplished. However, crowds of people – well that’s another kettle of fish. Even so, keep in mind that massive crowds can protest against insane government policies, as is happening now in cities across the United States, in response to the recent assassination of an Iranian general by order of Donald Trump. Organizers of the protests, of course, are smaller groups such as ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism). This suggests that crowds can also play a positive role. Or at least that’s my way of thinking.

Chapter 14. Resist the Downward Pull of the Group. The Law of Conformity.

“Madness is something rare in individuals – but in groups, parties, peoples, and ages it is the rule.”

- Friedrich Nietzsche

Gao Jianhua was an aspiring young writer in communist China in 1966, when the cultural tsunami known as the “Great Socialist Cultural Revolution” swept his school and countless other schools in China, with devastating results. Set in motion by Chairman Mao, it was supposed to rejuvenate revolutionary fervor, by encouraging the youth to seek out any regressive (counterrevolutionary) tendencies in the older generation – their teachers, for example. As this experiment in groupthink began to unfold, Gao and his classmates were expected to find something (or someone) to criticize. This would give them credibility as a vigilant vanguard of renewal. What unfolded was a breakdown of any semblance of healthy human relationships. Suspicion, paranoia, and the rise of mutually hostile factions among the students themselves disrupted not only the educational functions of the schools, but the economy and the entire social order. Some students were particularly ardent “followers of Chairman Mao,” seizing the opportunities to add to their own power over others in the group. Two rival groups arose in Gao’s school, the prestigious Yizhen Middle School: The East Is Red group and the Red Rebels. The rivalry turned violent. Torture was meted out to leaders in one group captured by the other. The breakdown threatened everything that Mao himself wanted to achieve, as it dragged the best and the brightest young communists downward. At last, Mao sent in the army to restore order.

Robert Greene interprets this as Mao’s attempt to change human nature itself. The fatal flaw, the author explains, is that “when people operate in groups, they do not engage in nuanced thinking and deep analysis. [They] feel emotional and excited. … Their thinking tends to be simplistic – good versus evil, with us or against us. … Deliberately creating chaos, as Mao did, only makes the group more certain to fall into these primitive patterns of thinking, since it is too frightening for humans to live with too much confusion and uncertainty.”

By intentionally undermining the most basic respect for teachers, Mao created a power vacuum, into which the “more assertive, aggressive, and even sadistic [individuals] pushed their way forward…, while those who were more passive quietly receded into the background, becoming followers.” Within two years, the shambles created by the “Cultural Revolution” forced Mao to install a police state.

Western societies also have their groupthink tendencies. Greene quotes Eric Hoffer: “When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other.” Then he gives us our twofold task as students of human nature: 1) Become aware of how much you yourself are influenced by “the people who raised you, your colleagues at work, your friends, and the culture at large.” Challenge yourself to go against the grain occasionally; think critically and creatively about the group’s influence on you. 2) “Become a consummate observer of the groups you belong to or interact with. Consider yourself an anthropologist studying the strange customs of an alien tribe.” The author places a high value on “our ability to transcend this tribalism and to see our fate as interconnected with everyone else’s.”

In a section on “The Court and Its Courtiers,” Greene describes several types of courtiers to be found in groups and institutions, such as the person who maneuvers to gain power (the intriguer), the person who plays a disruptive role (the stirrer) and others. In a concluding section the author suggests we form a Reality Group: “What creates a functional, healthy dynamic is the ability of the group to maintain a tight relationship to reality. The reality for a group is as follows: It exists in order to get things done, to make things, to solve problems. It has certain resources it can draw upon – the labor and strengths of its members, its finances. It operates in a particular environment that is almost always highly competitive and constantly changing. The healthy group puts primary emphasis on the work itself, on getting the most out of its resources and adapting to all of the inevitable changes. Not wasting time on endless political games, such a group can accomplish ten times more than the dysfunctional variety. It brings out the best in human nature – people’s empathy, their ability to work with others on a high level. It remains the ideal for all of us. We shall call this ideal the reality group.”

The author suggests five key strategies, to be applied as if it were a war, “and the enemy is not individuals but the dysfunctional group dynamic.” 1) Instill a collective sense of purpose. 2) Assemble the right team of lieutenants. 3) Let information and ideas flow freely. 4) Infect the group with productive emotions. 5) Forge a battle-tested group. “Give various members some relatively challenging tasks… Lead the team itself into an action that is novel and slightly risker than usual. … you want a group that has been through a few wars, dealt with them reasonably well, and now is battle tested. … With such a group, you can slowly expand the limits of what you can ask of them, and the members feel a powerful upward pull to meet challenges and prove themselves. Such a group can move mountains.”

“By participating in a high-functioning reality group, we can make ourselves healthy and whole. Such experiences are memorable and life-changing. We learn the value of cooperating on a higher level, of seeing our fate as intertwined with those around us. We develop greater empathy. We gain confidence in our own abilities, which such a group rewards. We feel connected to reality. We are brought into the upward pull of the group, realizing our social nature on the high level it was intended for. It is our duty as enlightened humans to create as many such groups as possible, making society healthier in the process.”