People with the social-survival strategy of "stick with the pack" can't allow themselves to fathom that the pack might be wrong, that the consensus, the mainstream, could be way off base. Because it would be too disturbing to their own sense of safety. What can you believe if you can't trust the pack? Such people can never be good scientists because they are not wed to truth. They are wed to society.
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IMO We all "stick with the pack" on some things and go our own way on others so it’s not entire personalities. Because we tend to specialize, a clearly overused strategy is to rely on others for what we disregard.
That’s the thing. People who don’t specialize in a thing often think they know more about the thing than those who do specialize in it. It’s funny and sad to witness.
but isn’t it also tragically true that the mob “wins” the most?
It is very hard to think independently but also correctly. The good news is that very few can do it - so that means there are tons of secrets (opportunities) hiding in plain sight!
It’s interesting because what’s true in science is what works best to explain phenomena, and so it’s not surprising many would just take as truth what works best for them socially and professionally. It’s the same mechanism at work, only they’ve outsourced their reality by one layer.
Definitely can trust the majority of real people who don’t benefit off his money who would cancel his gross shit and cancel abusive behaviour and anyone who thinks otherwise are the kind of shit who allow Jeffrey Epstein type shit and Republican states to marry 13 year olds etc. Not a deviation from the norm, not another ‘choice’ not a ‘naughty taboo ooh’ to me it creates a barrier to respecting or wanting someone it literally makes me feel sick
One of the primary reasons I played MMORPGs was became they became virtual worlds where you could see one constant play out.... human nature.
Nearly all of them ultimately fell due to the phenomenon you describe. But, with a twist.
You have central people with power... the developers of the game. They have a place where the players can voice their opinions... like a forum. On the forum, you have about 50% whining. The whiners pretty much whine about the same thing, to oppress freedom lovers who hurt no one. But, because even though the freedom lovers don't care to compete, but just want to have fun, the whiners view the game as one big competition and cry that it is unfair that they can do this and that.
E.g., in EQOA, they cried because necromancers no longer needed tanks and healers? How can we have RPG if the tanks and healers aren't needed by every single group in the game? If 1% of the players can play without them, it could grow and eventually eliminate the healer and tank classes. That was their reasoning. Did the necromancers bother anyone alone in the desert killing big critters? No.
The whiners are LOUD and repetitious. The devs inevitably cater to their voice, as if it is the only "consensus" that matters. Truth is, they are likely the minority and most tanks and healers don't care, and thus don't waste time on the forums. But, the devs cater.
This leads to every single patch nerfing classes that others are jealous of. Jealousy drives game development. Years of this, and you begin to watch the number of active players drop, and towns dry up. This is how the games die.
The manufactured consent doesn't always come from the top, in this case devs. Sometimes, it just comes from loud repetitious whiners. The devs play ball because they believe they are pleasing the majority. They have become victims..
I watched all that happen too and I concur with your analysis. Players have conflicting desires (1) a fun game which is made fun by being challenging, (2) winning that game. If they focus on (2) too much, they erode (1), and developers should be acting as their "willpower" to not erode (1). The fear that some will get frustrated and quit is IMHO not a fear MMORPG companies should never cave into. Imagine an MMORPG that has been running for 20 years because 10% of its secrets still haven't been uncovered. I'd still be playing that game. So who cares about the people who quit out of frustration.
Cheers mate.
I would add culture to this and remind myself and everyone else that culture is not our friend.
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This is relieving because I definitely do not fit in 😂
Most people derive their happiness from reference to their peers. This is literally how their neuroendocrinology is wired.
Most people are happier to fail as a group than to succeed alone. and I stress the “most people” part.
This is an evolutionary trait. It’s OK, this is just how people are.
Society’s consensus represents a certain percentage of the truth