African Wildlife Environment Issue 75 FINAL

GENERAL

Dr John Ledger EDITORIAL When I was young, the year 2020 sounded like some mystical number very far into the future, a time so far ahead that it sounded impossible to imagine living at such a time. And yet here we are in 2020, living in a world full of conflicts, contrasts and confusion. For those of us interested in wildlife and conservation of the environment and biodiversity, members and supporters of WESSA, what does all this mean?

from Yale University. Janis published an influential book in 1972, in which he defined Groupthink as a psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people in which the desire for harmony or conformity in the group results in an irrational or dysfunctional decision-making outcome. Cohesiveness, or the desire for cohesiveness, in a group may produce a tendency among its members to agree at all costs. This causes the group to minimise conflict and reach a consensus decision without critical evaluation. Groupthink requires individuals to avoid raising controversial issues or alternative solutions, and there is loss of individual creativity, uniqueness and independent thinking. The dysfunctional group dynamics of the ‘ingroup’ produces an ‘illusion of invulnerability’ (an inflated certainty that the right decision has been made). Thus the ‘ingroup’ significantly overrates its own abilities in decision- making and significantly underrates the abilities of its opponents (the ‘outgroup’). Members of a group can often feel peer pressure to ‘go along with the crowd’ in fear of rocking the boat, or of what them speaking up will affect how their teammates perceive them. Group interactions tend to favour clear and harmonious agreements, and it can be a cause for concern when little to no new innovations or arguments for better policies, outcomes and structures are called to question. Groupthink can often be referred to as a group of ‘yes men’ because group activities and group projects in general make it extremely easy to pass on not offering constructive opinions. How pervasive is Groupthink in 2020? It is all around us, and at the heart of every controversial subject under the sun. That is why we refuse to give a voice to people who are not part of our ‘ingroup’. Groupthink also prohibits an organisation from moving forward and innovating if no one ever speaks up and says something could be done differently. May you as our readers give this matter some thought, and be aware of the stifling influence of groupthink on our lives.

One of themost pervasive influences of our time is the ‘connectedness’ of humans throughout the world by means of the Internet and the astonishing evolution of electronic devices. For example, in January 2020 President Donald Trump is giving a speech to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. We can watch and listen to him in real time on our mobile phones. Almost immediately, the media react with condemnation or praise of what he said, and that too bombards our senses and influences what we think of the American President and his most powerful of countries. And so it is with every imaginable topic under the sun, be it the human population, climate change, trophy hunting, water and droughts, farming, energy or politics. Our senses are bombarded with polarised opinions and so-called ‘facts’. The media play the role of self-appointed ‘gatekeepers’, who allow only those whose opinions they agree with to reach the public, while those they disagree with are silenced and ignored. I recently listened to a debate on radio about climate change, where the ‘talk show host’ was so biased towards his sceptical guest that he intimated that he really should not be allowed to voice his views on air! Most people, and I am one of them, consciously or unconsciously practicewhat is known as ‘confirmation bias’, meaning that if we hear or read something with which we agree, this confirms our conviction that we are right. Conversely, when we hear or read opinions that do not agree with our own views, these are discarded or ignored. This results in the situation where we are unable to objectively analyse an issue because we do not listen to both sides of the argument. This is the underlying reason why there is so much polarisation about controversial topics such as climate change, trophy hunting and nuclear power, to name just three. This polarisation of individuals extends to groups of people who often then form organised structures of like-minded people. These can evolve into very powerful associations with enormous influence, whether it be financial or in having preferential access to the media. And here we come across another human phenomenon, known as ‘groupthink’. You can learn more about this in Wikipedia, or elsewhere on the Internet. Most of the initial research on groupthink was conducted by Irving Janis, a research psychologist

Dr John Ledger Consulting Editor john.ledger@wol.co.za 083 650 1768

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