Debates amid diversity can foster an innovative India
Prime time ‘debates’ on Indian television channels exemplify one of the most dangerous behaviour trends of present-day society. This behaviour trait was first studied by American social psychologists Leon Festinger, Henry Riecken and Stanley Schachter, way back in the 1950s. Dorothy Martin headed a small religious group in Chicago called the Seekers, who believed in an imminent apocalypse.
Martin claimed to be receiving messages from superior beings on a planet she referred to as Clarion. The messages included a prophecy that large portions of the US, Canada and Europe would be destroyed by a flood before dawn of 21 December 1954. That some believers took significant action indicated a high degree of commitment to the prophecy.
Some of them left their jobs, quit their studies, ended relationships with non-believers, gave away money and/or disposed of possessions to prepare for their departure on a flying saucer, which they believed would rescue them in advance of the flood. The research team infiltrated Martin’s group in order to collect data from Seekers before, during and after the time that the prophecy would be refuted. When the prophecy did not materialize, Martin informed the group that she had received a “message" saying that the group “had spread so much light that God had saved the world from destruction." What was most intriguing about this incident was that those in the group who had the highest belief and had shown the most commitment to the prophecy became even more committed to their beliefs and developed further rationalizations for the absence of a flood.
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