Members avoided serious conversation and stayed ignorant of each other’s basic facts
Evidence
The absence of straightforward conversation left the ”normal” fuzzy, left it unclear what could happen in the group context aside from teasing. It left most members not knowing basic facts about each other — what one another did for a living, whether they had ever been married, how old they were, what their last names were, for example. Country-westerners assumed that serious group conversation was the uncomfortable thing that unfortunately happened when the new boyfriend met the family, when George’s short-term girlfriend lectured about her born-again Christianity, or when stuffy speechmakers got on a high horse. — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics, 779
Categorization
- XREF: connects to: Most group-discussion participants stayed completely silent — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 1879; Group silence over the news masks members’ shared ignorance, as each fears revealing it. — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics: how Americans…, 805; Silent groups let a vocal few dominate opinion through sheer volume of talk — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics: how Americans…, 775 (+3 more)
Broader Connections
- Group silence over the news masks members’ shared ignorance, as each fears revealing it.
#expands(0.80) — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics, 805 - Most group-discussion participants stayed completely silent
#corroborates(0.78) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1879 - A news joke met with silence because no member dared admit ignorance.
#exemplifies(0.75) — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics, 800 - Volunteer groups suppress political talk even though members privately care
#expands(0.75) — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics, 192 - Silent groups let a vocal few dominate opinion through sheer volume of talk
#qualifies(0.70) — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics, 775 - Allowing political talk into meetings risked overwhelming and drowning the group
#qualifies(0.70) — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics, 1242