#136: Purity Spiral, Mindguarding & the Ideological Turing Test
3 Ideas in 2 Minutes on Ideology
I. Purity Spiral
When we’re caught in a Purity Spiral, we start competing with other members of our ideological tribe on who has the purest views of us all. The social dynamic accelerates when those committing even minor transgressions are sanctioned and those who voice extreme views are rewarded.
Purity Spirals often revolve around victimhood and moral superiority. As you’d expect, it leads to group members becoming increasingly intolerant. The term was coined by sociologists Bradley Campbell and Jason Manning. It’s reminiscent of the No True Scotsman fallacy.
II. Mindguarding
Groupthink happens when concurrence-seeking overrides our ability for independent critical thought. How do you guard yourself against this and other biases plaguing the human mind? If you’re part of a professional team, one answer is Mindguarding.
Mindguarding can be an effective tool to prevent groupthink. This technique is comprised of different factors.
Team leaders should avoid expressing clearly preferred options or opinions, especially early in the process.
Team leaders should not attend certain sessions to avoid influencing the outcome.
Team members should each be encouraged to adopt the role of ‘critical evaluator’ to facilitate the airing of doubts and objections.
Team members should adopt the role of devil’s advocate on a rolling basis to challenge the group; better still, an external devil’s advocate could be employed.
Team members should be encouraged to discuss ideas with trusted people outside of the group.
Where possible, outside experts should be included in meetings.
Source: Red Teaming Handbook
III. Ideological Turing Test
The famous Turing Test challenged computers to mimic human behaviour in such a way that we wouldn’t know the difference. The Ideological Turing Test is a similar “imitation game” designed for argumentative people:
The Ideological Turing Test has been proposed as a requirement for would-be human debaters — can they successfully mimic their ideological opponent’s arguments to the extent that their opponent endorses the argument as strongly as their own?
Put differently, you pass the test if you can formulate your opponents’ arguments so convincingly that they think you’re their ideological soulmate. Coincidentally, my essay on How to Pass the Ideological Turing Test is now freely available on the blog. 🐘
Have a great week,
Chris
themindcollection.com
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