The theory relies on the fact that psychologically we have a fear of isolation or disapproval from others.
This sort of combats this new age idea that we as humans who are allowed to exercise free speech are able to say however they feel, and we each have a voice in elections and such.
Obviously this is a theory, but if it were the case it would explain how the US bipartisan system always has two clear candidates. Each party starts with multiple candidates at both sides of the spectrum, and at the beginning some good percentages of people support all the different candidates, who run with very specific and sometimes bizarre platforms, and without fail, by the end of the race each party picks one candidate. People may not like the candidate their party chose, but their peers threaten them with the alternative of the other party, and if one writes in the candidate they wanted, they would be afraid of their peers thinking it is a waste of a vote (I feel this way all the time).
I think this is super prevalent in the US, with politics in general, it is a huge elephant in the room, and we are taught not to talk about it with others, (excluding the few people who have learned to spout their feelings on social media). It can be intimidating when you feel like your opinion or candidate may not be the popular choice, and it may sway you in a different direction. I wonder if this is why other countries' elections are so much more wide spread, because they aren't forced to choose majority.
The other day in a conversation with a friend, I used the term antivaccer, and my friend had no idea what I was talking about. But I have friends who never got vaccinations, and go to school with us. They tell close to no one, because of their fear of what people would think about them and their family.
In a way, this theory is a fancy way of proving mob mentality. In general, as humans we tend to follow the crowd. For thousands of years, slavery existed. This doesn't mean that everyone agreed, but it means that the people who didn't for the longest time were scared of the implications of disagreeing, until one day enough people expressed their opinions that they weren't so afraid anymore.
I'm not sure there's a clear fix to this problem. But the internet is giving us more and more opportunities to connect with people with similar viewpoints, and hopefully it can at least make people feel less polarized in relation to their viewpoints.
I'm not sure there's a clear fix to this problem. But the internet is giving us more and more opportunities to connect with people with similar viewpoints, and hopefully it can at least make people feel less polarized in relation to their viewpoints.
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