Sublime

Social stability comes at the price of wearing a mask, of learning to distance ourselves from our unique nature, from our personal desires, needs, and feelings; instead, we embrace a socially acceptable self.

Today, with the help of brain-scanning technology, we may be getting closer to the answer. In 2005 an Emory University neuroscientist named Gregory Berns decided to conduct an updated version of Asch’s experiments. Berns and his team recruited thirty-two volunteers, men and women between the

But one thing is certain: every day in America, thousands of people appear before a jury of their peers and hope they will be judged fairly, when in reality they are judged by human brains that always perceive the world from a self-interested point of view. To believe otherwise is a fiction that is not supported by the architecture of the brain.

Around five people—limit of people with whom we can hold close personal relationships and working memory Around fifteen people—limit of people with whom we can experience deep trust Around fifty people—limit of people with whom we can have mutual trust Around 150 people—limit of people whose capabilities we can remember

Their five modules have to do with suffering (it’s good to help and not harm others), reciprocity (from this comes a sense of fairness), hierarchy (respect for elders and those in legitimate authority), coalitionary bonding (loyalty to your group) and purity (praising cleanliness and shunning contamination and carnal behavior).

In Asch’s study: Solomon Asch’s classic study about the pressure to conform to a group was published in Groups, Leadership, and Men, edited by Harold Guetzkow (Pittsburgh: Carnegie Press, 1951). Asch’s chapter, titled “Effects of Group Pressure upon the Modification and Distortion of Judgment,” appears on pages 177–90.

There are dozens of biases in social psychology, but to lead below the surface, it’s important to familiarize yourself with the terrible three: affinity bias, confirmation bias, and in-group bias.