Collectivist Cultures

This is the flag of Christiania.

(And no, it is not a design of a rectangle and three circles that i came up with on whim.)

The 'Freetown' Christiania is located just outside Copenhagen, Denmark. It is a community of roughly 850 residents, where artists, musicians, and even drug dealers seem to have free reign.

Yes, you read right, free reign. The reason for this interesting situation is that in 1971, abandoned military barracks were taken over by a bunch of hippies, and was declared open by Jacob Ludvigsen, a popular Danish newspaper publisher. With this Christiania was born, with their misson statement:

"The objective of Christiania is to create a self-governing society whereby each and every individual holds themselves responsible over the wellbeing of the entire community. Our society is to be economically self-sustaining and, as such, our aspiration is to be steadfast in our conviction that psychological and physical destitution can be averted."

The spirit of Christiania quickly developed into one of hippie culture, collectivism and anarchism. People living in this freetown are part of a unique independent society, having sucessfully thwarted government action and violent police raids for years.

Each inhabitant of Christiania has to pay a monthly rent of approximately 1,600 Danish crowns for electricity, heating, road maintenance, land tax, child-care center, kindergarten, leisure and other public costs. However, residents have also developed their own set of rules, independently of the Danish government. The rules forbid stealing, violence, guns, knives, bulletproof vests and hard drugs. (notice the rules forbid HARD drugs, not drugs in general. hmm.)

But yes, the most interesting point about Christiania is probably it's infamous Pusher Street, where drugs like Cannabis were sold openly from permanent stands on the street till 2004. This 'officially' open drug trade was clamped down on by the authorities, but quiet trading of cannabis and hard drugs is still rampant.

Personally, i think it's amazing that a town such as Christiania is able to survive today. This alternative and unorthodox lifestyle that the residents live by is really unlike anything i've read or heard about.

But maybe it's because of the alternative living culture that artists and creative people are attracted to Christiania in the first place. Check out some of the graffitti found around the town!

credits to http://quietcolor.com/qc/

Groupthink.

"A mode of thinking that people engage in when they are deeply involved in a cohesive in-group, when members' strivings for unanimity override ther motivation to realistically appraise alternative courses of action." -Irving Janis

Above is the definition of the concept of Groupthink, coined by Irving Janis, a forefather in the study of group dynamics. Groupthink is a situation in which people in a team or group have absolute loyalty to each other, think that they have no weaknesses or bad points, have cookie-cutter mentalities and ultimately, are oblivious to what is real, with an illusion of unanimity. It is a 'disease' that spreads when the norms for conforming in a group become so strong, and members are highly concerned about maintaining unity, that they fail to evaluate and their options and make wise decisions.

Cults are a very good example of Groupthink. They suck people into joining them, and alter their beliefs and perceptions to fit that of their group.

The above are pictures of The Ku Klux Klan, a racist, anti-Semitic movement with a commitment to extreme violence to achieve its goals of racial segregation and white supremacy.

Here are three reasons why cults such as the KKK are the perfect example of Groupthink.

1. Illusion of Invulnerability. A majority of people consider, or even join cults for one main reason, and that is to have a sense of belonging; to feel safe and accepted in the group. Because the members are so desperate to belong and be a part of the cult, it an unstoppable force, and nothing can get in it's way. Group members are dillusioned into thinking that whatever they do is right, and they have faith in the group, never doubting or faltering in their beliefs of the group's supremacy.

2. Belief in Inherent Morality. Cult members never doubt what their leaders tell them. They completely trust and believe whatever their cult leader says. They think that everything their leaders to or say is correct, so in trusting them, everything they themselves do is moral and just. They believe strongly that they know what is wrong or right, and never doubt their thoughts or actions.

3. Collective Rationalization. The entire cult worships the leader, and thus will follow exactly what their leader said, never doubting his words or actions. This will in turn lead to the belief that their leaders are always right. Everything they do, the group will try to explain and rationalise their actions as a group, so whatever is thought to be incorrect or wrong will be dismissed, as the group refuses to see things from different perspectives.

Communication Platforms

these are a few postcards i've lifted off Postsecret.com

for the uninitiated, postsecret is an ongoing online comunity project in which people mail their secrets anonymously on homemade postcards. People from all over the world decorate postcards, either storebought or handmade and scribble their secrets on it, mailing it to be published on the postsecret website.

i think using this as an communication outlet to express their feelings and emotions is a very novel and refreshing idea. people embrace the anonimity they get, and feel less inhibited and free to share their secrets with the world.

i think part of the charm of postsecret is how unorthodox and refreshing the concept is. it's not a typical communication platform, but it works to give people a place to share their thoughts and feelings.

Interpersonal Communication

It can be described as a "Two person, face to face interaction" - Trenholm Or as "Communication that takes place between persons who have an established relationship; the people are in some way connected." - DeVito

But with increasing exposure to the world wide web, comes the creation of global socialising networks that enable people from all parts of the globe to connect to each other. People who have never met each other in real life can claim to be in love, be best friends or even sworn enemies. This 'connection' we forge with virtual strangers, can it really be considered true friendship?

Hiding behind a computer screen, anyone can claim to be someone they are not. And sometimes, this deception is taken too far.

This is 13 year old Megan Meier. Megan that commited suicide after getting depressed over a MySpace hoax. She got to know a 16 year old teen called Josh Evans over MySpace, and over the course of their chatting and correspondence, their relationship bloomed. However, things took a very different turn when Josh suddenly changed his attitude towards Megan.

On October 15, 2006, Josh sent Megan a message saying, 'I don't want to be friends with you anymore because you're not nice to your friends'.
That post triggered hate posts from many other MySpace users.
"All of Josh's friends and all of Megan's friends were calling Megan a whore, a fat ass. Calling her all kinds of god awful names," Megan's mother,Tina, told the ABC network in an interview last year.

Meier hanged herself on October 16, 2006 after receiving the cruel messages, including the last message sent from Josh which read: "The world would be a better place without you."

However, the tragedy took an even worse turn when it was revealed that this Josh Evans did not even exist. Lori Drew, a 48 year old mother was passing herself off as a 16 year old guy, just to monitor anything negative that Megan was saying about her daugther.

The childishness and insensitivity of her actions led to the tragic suicide of a young girl. Her actions and intentions were extremely cruel, even more so because she knew the Meier family personally, and Megan and her daughter were friends. How can anyone (especially an adult, a MOTHER, for that matter) stoop to such levels to bully and harm a young teenage girl? (FYI, the authorities were unable to charge Lori Drew for Megan's death as they could not find a law she had broken. Instead, all the woman got for her deliberate and evil actions were one count of conspiracy and three counts of accessing protected computers without authorisation to obtain information to inflict emotional distress. Each of the counts carries only a maximum possible penalty of five years in prison.)

This is why I feel interpersonal communication is only valid and real if it's truly a face to face interaction between 2 people. Your virtual 'friends' can make themselves out to whoever they want to be to you, but you'll never really know who's the real person hiding behind a computer screen.