Blending With the World

            As much as groupthink can keep the harmony in a group, it also has its bad effects. It may lead to bad decisions; it may hinder the chance of a great idea to be known, and many other things. People see me as someone who doesn’t and isn’t shy when it comes to expressing what I want to say and what I feel, but little to they know that I am very shy inside. I’m only comfortable with people I am close to, and because of this, I am not shy when it comes to them. When I tell them I am that I am a really shy person, they just laugh and think I am messing with them. For this reason, no one really knows that I am that kind of person.

            I’ve experienced a good number of situations wherein I’ve had ideas in mind, but I chose to keep it to myself because I didn’t want to go against the other ideas already present and agreed upon by the people in the group. Although this only happens when I am around people I am new to. During the first semester of my first year in the Ateneo College, I faced people I’ve never seen or heard of in my life. At the beginning of the year, I didn’t talk much because I didn’t know whom I could converse with. I was rather waiting for someone to approach me and start a conversation, but I don’t think I look like one of those approachable people. Haha. I hated having group works so badly. In fact, there was a time when we experimented on a rat. One of the group members suggested that we just slice it open. I knew that if we did that we might hit some organs, destroying them and making it impossible to study those parts, but I didn’t voice out. I just kept the idea in my headed hoping they wouldn’t destroy the organs. In five minutes time, I was in utter regret, regret that I was too shy and scared to suggest what I knew was right because just like I thought, they sliced it open too roughly that it broke some parts. This shows an example of how groupthink can lead to mishaps. Some times, people have great things in mind and choose to keep quiet about it because they are shy and do not want to break the harmony going on.

            During the second semester, I met knew people again from different classes just like in the first semester. This time, I was more open towards meeting other people and more open even during the group works we had. I learned how to voice out the ideas I had and share my opinion on certain topics. This is where the topic we discussed in class proves its worth. According to an online dictionary the adaptive structuration theory means that A structure whose geometric and inherent structural characteristics can be changed beneficially in response to external stimulation by either remote commands. This theory explains how I have learned to adapt to the culture brought about by the college way of life. Because we meet new people almost every day, unlike in high school, meeting others becomes a very ordinary occurrence 

The Human Tendency to go with the Flow of Life

Nowadays, individuality has been a blur to many because of a good number of factors such as social norms, pop culture, trends, and other influences. Every individual is affected and influenced by the society in one way or another Ateneans for example tend to stay away from things that would lead to them being classified as “jejemons” because such lifestyle is uncommon to our crowd. Almost the whole world hates Rebecca Black for her song entitled “Friday” and I haven’t heard of any group or anyone for that matter who is defending her. There is no law that states that only women can wear bras, but men don’t go out of the house wearing a bra underneath their shirts because it’s taboo. These kinds of actions or decision-making happens because people have the tendency to follow what is accepted because not doing so would lead to complications. By complications I mean people saying things about you, people judging you, and other things that would cause stress in life, which everyone would naturally want to avoid.
As discussed in class, there is such term as “groupthink”, which falls under the theories of groups and organizations. Groupthink doesn’t involve any fancy definitions to it. It simply means people agreeing or going with the flow of a certain something despite having better ideas in mind in order to give way for harmony. This kind of decision-making is not beneficial for the development and growth of the society because this leaves us stagnant since everyone is inclined to agree with the rest. Whereas if people voice out their ideas, there will be room for further improvement. Humans constantly come up with new innovative ideas and they lack confidence and will in letting their ideas be known to others.
Last week, my grandfather went through an operation that involved his heart being repaired by the use of an angioplasty stent. The decision to have him operated died not come in a snap of a finger. The decision was vital for my lolo’s life and it concerned the whole family. After the doctor announced what had to be done to my lolo, my whole family started murmuring in the hospital room. My mother being the only girl among five siblings called the attention of everyone and asked that everyone take part in voting whether they approved for my lolo’s operation or not. One by one, everyone started saying that they didn’t want to vote because it might cause tension in the family. So they ended up with a group decision and decided that my lolo be operated on. This story of mine shows how a group would usually come up with the same decision and agree with the rest of the group. This happens because in our case we all had the same concern for my lolo. The decision-making of groups are affected by different factors, some times it may be because cohesiveness is involved in the group or it may be because of external stressors. “Groupthink” does not always lead to bad decisions, at times a good decision may also spring about from such way of deciding on things.