The story...
Solomon Asch conducted a conformity experiment to test the phenomena that's often referred to as groupthink. In this study, only 25% of the participants would not go along with group consensus when evaluating which line length was a match.
Personally, I've often experienced the pain of being in that quartile who maintained their integrity when the group's going the other way - "it's just the way I am." I assume that when the issues are more complex, than assessing the length of lines, the percentage decreases significantly. Groupthink often results in people going where they don't wanna go - maybe nobody.
Within the only church in town, I hope that God's revealed Word would be the standard for measuring line length. And, I hope that the grace, love and mercy offered by God, to us in Christ, would be extended amongst community members - freedom from the tyrannical rule of self. Then, people might have a solid rock foundation for measuring truth - working out a life of integrity, characterized by love, amongst all their groups.
Just for today...
"I can lower my expectations of others and myself, and choose to be happy with progress rather than perfection." Hope for Today (p. 78)
"I've spent so much time and energy trying to help those who didn't want it, that the opportunity to make a welcome contribution to someone else's well being is precious to me." Courage to Change (p. 78)
"I will not look for a scapegoat to excuse my own faults." One Day at a Time (p. 78)
"We must be true inside, true to ourselves, before we can know a truth that is outside us." No Man Is an Island - Thomas Merton
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