Going to Extremes: How Like Minds Unite and DivideWhy do people become extremists? What makes people become so dismissive of opposing views? Why is political and cultural polarization so pervasive in America? In Going to Extremes, renowned legal scholar and best-selling author Cass R. Sunstein offers startling insights into why and when people gravitate toward extremism. Sunstein marshals a wealth of evidence that shows that when like-minded people gather in groups, they tend to become more extreme in their views than they were before. Thus when liberals group get together to debate climate change, they end up more alarmed about climate change, while conservatives brought together to discuss same-sex unions become more set against same-sex unions. In courtrooms, radio stations, and chatrooms, enclaves of like-minded people are breeding ground for extreme movements. Indeed, Sunstein shows that a good way to create an extremist group, or a cult of any kind, is to separate members from the rest of society, either physically or psychologically. Sunstein's findings help to explain such diverse phenomena as political outrage on the Internet, unanticipated "blockbusters" in the film and music industry, the success of the disability rights movement, ethnic conflict in Iraq and former Yugoslavia, and Islamic terrorism. Providing a wealth of real-world examples--sometimes entertaining, sometimes alarming--Sunstein offers a fresh explanation of why partisanship has become so bitter and debate so rancorous in America and abroad. Praise for the hardcover: "A path-breaking exploration of the perils and possibilities created by polarization among the like-minded." --Kathleen Hall Jamieson, co-author of unSpun and Echo Chamber "Poses a powerful challenge to anyone concerned with the future of our democracy. He reveals the dark side to our cherished freedoms of thought, expression and participation. Initiates an urgent dialogue which any thoughtful citizen should be interested in." --James S. Fishkin, author of When the People Speak |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 20
Page 13
... median mem- ber. Having done this, we found that small groups of six people, or statistical juries, usually agree about outrageous- ness and appropriate punishment. Importantly, the agreement cuts across demographic differences. With ...
... median mem- ber. Having done this, we found that small groups of six people, or statistical juries, usually agree about outrageous- ness and appropriate punishment. Importantly, the agreement cuts across demographic differences. With ...
Page 15
... median judgment of individual jurors was 4 or higher on the 8-point scale, the jury's verdict ended up higher than that median judgment. Consider, for example, a case involving a man who nearly drowned on a defectively constructed yacht ...
... median judgment of individual jurors was 4 or higher on the 8-point scale, the jury's verdict ended up higher than that median judgment. Consider, for example, a case involving a man who nearly drowned on a defectively constructed yacht ...
Page 16
... median juror before people started to talk. Here is the most striking finding: In 27 percent of the cases, the jury's award was at least as high as that of the highest predeliberation judgment of the members of that particular jury ...
... median juror before people started to talk. Here is the most striking finding: In 27 percent of the cases, the jury's award was at least as high as that of the highest predeliberation judgment of the members of that particular jury ...
Page 17
... medians of the Americans and the Taiwanese on the key questions.16 When Americans show a predeliberation median in favor of caution, discussion moves them toward greater caution; the same is true of Taiwanese. When American groups show ...
... medians of the Americans and the Taiwanese on the key questions.16 When Americans show a predeliberation median in favor of caution, discussion moves them toward greater caution; the same is true of Taiwanese. When American groups show ...
Page 18
... median member before discussion began.22 Consider, for example, the appropriate response to three different events: police brutality against African Americans, an apparently unjustified war, and sex discrimination by a local city ...
... median member before discussion began.22 Consider, for example, the appropriate response to three different events: police brutality against African Americans, an apparently unjustified war, and sex discrimination by a local city ...
Contents
1 | |
21 | |
Movements | 99 |
Preventing Extremism | 127 |
Good Extremism | 149 |
Findings of Group Polarization | 161 |
Acknowledgments | 169 |
Notes | 173 |
Index | 187 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
Al Qaeda American answer arguments asked behavior believe Biased Assimilation capital punishment Cass cautious shift climate change commitment Consider conspiracy theories create deliberation deliberative deliberative opinion poll democracy Democratic appointees Dictator Game direction dissent diversity domains effects enclaves ensure ethnic example experiment experimenter extreme movements extremists favor go to extremes group members group polarization groupthink guards homophily Ibid important increase informational cascade interactions Internet involving Janis’s juries jurors kind Leaderless Jihad like-minded types median ments Milgram’s nations occur outrage people’s percent Personality & Soc polarization games political predeliberation president Princeton prisoners problem produce Psychol public forum doctrine punishment punitive damage awards questions radical Republican appointees responsible result rhetorical advantage risk risky shift Robert Pape Robert Shiller role Sageman Scott McClellan sense Shiller shocks social influences Stanford Prison Experiment suggests Sunstein Suppose Team tend terrorism terrorists thresholds tion views volts Zimbardo