Spiraling into Silence
One of the more interesting ideas in my mind is the Spiral of Silence theory. This theory dictates that viewpoints that are more in the majority are often heard. But viewpoints that are in the minority are often not heard and people tend to stay quiet about those viewpoints. This is all due to the idea that humans don’t want to feel isolated and feel more comfortable with social involvement.
If we are being totally honest with one another, I wish this theory didn’t exist. I can understand that people do not want to move out of their comfort zones and want to feel socially accepted. But we need minority viewpoints! We need new ideas and people that will deal with the potential repercussions. Great change does not come easily!
An interesting part of this theory as well is the idea that certainty leads to this theory being less effective. If you feel certain about something then you are less likely to care about whether you are in the minority or the majority. There are plenty of examples of this, like when placing a bet on an underdog in sports or thinking you are right in an argument with a friend. Certainty, in my mind, is a synonym for self confidence. If you are confident in yourself and what you have to say then it shouldn’t matter if you are in the majority or not.
So I guess what I would like is for people to have more confidence in themselves. Get your opinion out there! Even if it is wrong, who cares? Now you are more the wiser, you learn from it and move on! Add more material to the conversation. If people can have a respectful conversation and discuss majority and minority opinions, the more that can be brought to the table can lead to vast improvements.
My dad used to always tell me that that nothing worth doing comes easily. I will say that if more people learn about this theory, then maybe they will be more willing to talk about some minority viewpoints and find others that have their viewpoints as well. But even if you aren’t sure about yourself, even if you don’t want to be in the minority, sometimes it can be very productive to provide that opinion anyways. Don’t stay silent, stay confident.
