The hidden forces shaping society — and how to resist them

What does it mean to be an authentic individual in 21st-century America? Is such a thing even possible? As technology and the managerial grind continue their steady march forward, it seems that it is getting easier and easier to lose the trees for the forest, to lose individual human achievement for the progress of the machine. Some people, however, believe that Americans are ready to march to the beat of a different drum and to pursue possibilities for society of which our ancestors could only have dreamed.

On “Zero Hour,” Todd Rose, former Harvard professor, CEO of the think tank Populace, and author of the book “Collective Illusions: Conformity, Complicity, and the Science of Why We Make Bad Decisions,” sat down with James Poulos to discuss his rags-to-riches story, collective illusions, and individuality in the modern era.

In reference to his book, Rose explained what a collective illusion is: It’s “a phenomenon where most people in a group go along with an idea that they don’t privately agree with because they incorrectly think that most other people in the group agree with it.” Of course, this has major implications for society, especially with the ability of fringe groups to amplify their ideas on social media.

However, these collective illusions can be and have been thrown off in the past. Talking about the bloodless overthrow of communist Czechoslovakia, Rose made the point that authenticity can undermine an illusion very quickly: “If a poet can overthrow communism, think about what we can do as Americans. We’ve got such a bright future if we can start living in truth again and stop being afraid to be honest with each other about what we believe.”

They also talked about the role of technology in society and stressed that technology is only good or bad depending on how it is used. “If all technology is values-neutral, we have to decide what it’s for. And if we don’t have a clear sense of our values and we make technology our master, we’re in really big trouble.”

Rose went on, “We have to know as a people, and we have to speak the truth about what we value to create the demand-side pressure for this technology [AI] to be used in service of our individuality and our humanity.”

To hear more about what Todd Rose had to say about his own story of individual achievement, technology and individuality, and the future of society, watch the full episode of “Zero Hour” with James Poulos.