No matter which side of this issue you fall on, you are probably aware that prop 8 was ruled unconstitutional, a ruling held up by the ninth district circuit court of appeals. In this high profile trial, both plaintiff and defendant presented their best and most robust arguments for and against the legalization of same-sex marriage.
When discussing among friends issues about which everyone already agrees, it's easy to reinforce each others' comments and feel absolutely certain of the merits of one's argument; we call this phenomena groupthink. But when these points of arguments are challenged by the opposing view, how do they stand up? Some are made uncomfortable by the conflict of a civil debate, but it is only under critical scrutiny that the truth can hope to emerge. This is exactly what happens in this documentary of the Perry v. Schwarzenegger trial.
Based on actual courtroom transcripts, this is a verbatim theatrical reenactment of the trial proceedings which overruled Proposition 8. I expected boring, with a cast including George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Martin Sheen, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Kevin Bacon-- this video watches more like a courtroom drama than a documentary.
Challenge your beliefs. If you find them unscathed, they will be that much stronger. If they crumble under scrutiny, you will be forever grateful you escaped ignorance.
-Josh Ruchty
The social phenomenon of group think is an interesting thing. It is also comparable to the conformity test done by Asch. It's an interesting experiment if you want to look up Asch's line test. People will completely change what they are sure to be true just because everyone else in a crowd is saying something different. Also, if you want to see another experiment associated with Asch, here's a youtube video
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B738X-ibz2o
This video makes me laugh every time because it is very visible how strong the power of conformity is.
Juliette, great comment. And I LOVE the Asch line study. The study was also performed using fMRI (i.e. brain scanning).
ReplyDeleteOne of the interesting outcomes of the study was that researchers found differing activity in the visual cortex of the brain between groups of conformers and non-conformers.
Since both groups were experiencing the exact same visual stimuli, it is suggested the difference in visual-cortical activity was influenced by higher-order brain functions.
In other words, it is possible that people's visual perception of the lines were altered by their conformity. This top-down influence is nothing new... So it may actually be the case that people's perception of reality is affecting by social pressures.
And this example is with an issue that's not only blatantly obvious, but physically measurable in nature. Imagine the power of conformity for an intangible idea such as what constitutes justice or equality. The issue of marriage equality certainly isn't immune to these types of influence.