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In 2005, Gregory Berns, a neuroscientist at Emory University, decided to conduct an experiment to demonstrate the power of conformity (this has relevance in oncology and medicine in general, so bear with me)
Berns and his team recruited volunteers and asked them to participitae in a game in which each group member was shown 2 different 3D objects on a computer screen and asked if the first object can be rotated to match the second
He then used fMRI scanning to evaluate the areas of volunteers brains as they conformed to or broke with group opinion. Berns came out with 2 interesting observations:
1) When volunteers played the game on their own, they gave the wrong answer 13.8% of the time, but when they played with a group that gave unanimously the wrong answer, the volunteers agreed with the wrong answer 41% of the time.
2) When volunteers played alone, fMRI scanning showed activity in occipital/parietal cortex (visual and spasial perception) PLUS activity in the frontal cortex (associated with conscious decision-making)...
However, when volunteers went along with their group's wrong answer, the brain scans showed activity in the occipital/parietal cortex but NOT in the decision-making prefrontal cortex
These findings suggest that people conform because their perception is altered, and not because they "go with the flow" despite knowing that the answer is wrong. This is the power of peer-pressure and hype.
For example, if a group believes that NGS for all patients with cancer is warranted, individual oncologists are more likely to arrive to the same conclusion, and become convinced that it is their own clinical decision-making that led them to that answer. #precisionmedicine
Or if a group believes that all patients with stable angina should have PCI, individual cardiologists are more likely to perform PCI on patients with stable angina. @ProfDFrancis
Individual critical thinking is essential to reaching sound conclusions. And as much as I love "Groupthink" (I don't) that elevates teamwork above all else, there is something to be said about the power of solitude as a catalyst for innovation.
