incestuous amplification

incestuous amplification
n.
The reinforcement of set beliefs among like-minded people, leading to miscalculations and errors in judgment.
Example Citations:
Back in Washington, around the water coolers at the Pentagon, they talk about this idea called "incestuous amplification" as a bad thing.
In the echo chamber of Hollywood, however, incestuous amplification ... is what they call a movie studio.
This town embraces incestuous amplification! Which leads us to this year's nominations for the Oscars. People, it's groupthink run amok.
— William Booth, "A Quest for Gold," The Washington Post, February 22, 2004
Without knowing it, the Columbia investigators were identifying a pervasive social problem, one that unites these examples and that leads to many failures in the public and private sectors. In military circles, this process is called "incestuous amplification." Among psychologists, it is known as "group polarization."
In a nutshell: Like-minded people, talking only with one another, usually end up believing a more extreme version of what they thought before they started to talk.
— Cass R. Sunstein, "The Power of Dissent," Los Angeles Times, September 17, 2003
Earliest Citation:
One immutable law of Pentagon force planning is that the Joint Chiefs of Staff will generate requirements greater than the existing force, irrespective of the strategy in vogue at the time. It is the inevitable result of a cycle that a former officer calls ''incestuous amplification.''
— David Evans, "A runaway Pentagon," The New York Times, October 3, 1984
Related Words: Category:

New words. 2013.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Group polarization — is the tendency of people to make decisions that are more extreme when they are in a group as opposed to a decision made alone or independently. Overview Study of this effect has shown that after participating in a discussion group, members tend… …   Wikipedia

  • Psychology — affective computing affective forecasting amygdala hijack attentional blink bibliotherapy brain fingerprinting busy brain …   New words

  • disconfirmation bias — n. The tendency to actively refute or discount evidence that challenges a belief. Example Citations: In other words, when we think we re reasoning, we may instead be rationalizing. Or to use an analogy offered by University of Virginia… …   New words

  • dysrationalia — n. The tendency to think or act irrationally in certain situations, despite having sufficient intelligence. dysrational adj. Example Citations: In 1994, Stanovich began comparing people s scores on rationality tests with their scores on… …   New words

  • egocasting — pp. Reading, watching, and listening only to media that reflect one s own tastes or opinions. egocast n., v. egocaster n. Example Citations: Not only are we acquiring our information from new places but we are taking it pretty much on our own… …   New words

  • filter bubble — n. Search results, recommendations, and other online data that have been filtered to match your interests, thus preventing you from seeing data outside of those interests. Example Citations: Those same kind of surprises don t seem to happen to me …   New words

  • goalodicy — n. The continued pursuit of a goal despite evidence that the goal cannot be achieved. Example Citations: If you suffer from goalodicy you find yourself so obsessed by the goal that you ignore the realities. You will think that the achievement of… …   New words

  • mindblindness — n. The inability to perceive another person s mental state. Example Citation: What, ultimately, makes autistic people different? How do they experience the world? Twenty years ago no one had much of a clue. But a burgeoning body of research now… …   New words

  • miswanting — (mis.WAWN.ting) pp. Desiring something that one erroneously believes will make one happy. Example Citations: Would a 20 percent raise or winning the lottery result in a contented life? You may predict it will, but almost surely it won t turn out… …   New words

  • pareidolia — (payr.eye.DOH.lee.uh) n. The erroneous or fanciful perception of a pattern or meaning in something that is actually ambiguous or random. pareidolic adj. Example Citations: Pareidolia is common enough, and predates the space program by a… …   New words

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”