And we do so even when this “community” is tiny; in subsequent studies, Asch found that the social-conformity effect kicked in with the use of just three fake subjects. Moreover, we do so even when the judgment in question concerns a straightforward matter of fact, such as the comparative length of a series of lines. How much more susceptible to peer pressure must we be, then, when it comes from large groups of people with whom we share a place, a history, and a culture—and when it is brought to bear on far more complicated and ambiguous evidence? In other words, how much more must our real
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