Communal reinforcement....
something I've been considering for a while is the effects of 'communal reinforcement'
"Communal reinforcement is the process by which a claim becomes a strong belief through repeated assertion by members of a community. The process is independent of whether the claim has been properly researched or is supported by empirical data significant enough to warrant belief by reasonable people"
It has a very powerful effect on the religious, it's no coincidence that a lot of religious group discourage contact with 'non-believers'..
But what didn't occur to me was just how widespread it can be..
The problem is, that within a community (let's use Games Workshop as an example), clearly the people who still go there like GW, so pretty much all the feedback they get is going to be positive. What they don't get is all the feedback from people who used to like it and don't anymore (for whatever reason) (which is more negative)
So, they've got a false impression of how they're percieved, and consequently have disappeared up their own arse.
I can think of more relevant (to me) examples, but I shall be diplomatic and omit them.
"Communal reinforcement is the process by which a claim becomes a strong belief through repeated assertion by members of a community. The process is independent of whether the claim has been properly researched or is supported by empirical data significant enough to warrant belief by reasonable people"
It has a very powerful effect on the religious, it's no coincidence that a lot of religious group discourage contact with 'non-believers'..
But what didn't occur to me was just how widespread it can be..
The problem is, that within a community (let's use Games Workshop as an example), clearly the people who still go there like GW, so pretty much all the feedback they get is going to be positive. What they don't get is all the feedback from people who used to like it and don't anymore (for whatever reason) (which is more negative)
So, they've got a false impression of how they're percieved, and consequently have disappeared up their own arse.
I can think of more relevant (to me) examples, but I shall be diplomatic and omit them.