Why the past 10 years of American life have been uniquely stupid

Re:Why the past 10 years of American life have been uniquely... by defterGoose on Tuesday April 12, 2022 @05:15PM (#31008311)

> Not every observable property is available on the "atomic unit". Some only appear (emergent properties) after the association and observation of many such units, that is, in a group.

Name a property of the group that's more than a sum of the properties of the individual. Population, for instance.

The crystal analogy, again, isn't helpful because we're talking about social science, not physics.

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Re:Why the past 10 years of American life have been uniquely... by coldtea on Tuesday April 12, 2022 @09:10PM (#31010118)

>Name a property of the group that's more than a sum of the properties of the individual

An individual cannot exhibit groupthink without a group. They also can't have in-group bias without a group. Both important properties in group dynamics.

Roles and positions within a group are similar to the "crystal example" as well, with groups forming particular patterns under specific pressures, patterns impossible to the individual (e.g. an individual is not a "protest march" or a political party).

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