JDChi Authority-Misinfluence Tendency
This skill helps you understand the tendency to automatically follow leaders, even when they are wrong, which has led to many tragedies throughout history.
Core Concept
Living in dominance hierarchies as he does, man was born mostly to follow leaders, with only a few people doing the leading. Human society is formally organized into dominance hierarchies, with culture augmenting the natural follow-the-leader tendency.
Key Examples
- Milgram experiment: Ordinary people gave what they believed were massive electric shocks when instructed by an "authority"
- Medical error: Nurse put ear drops in patient's anus due to misread Latin abbreviation
- Pilot crashes: Copilots following foolish orders from captain
- Business failures: CEOs making terrible decisions while followers comply
Consequences
- Following orders that cause harm
- Failure to question obvious errors
- Concentration of power in unsuitable leaders
- Resistance to removing authority figures who should go
Antidotes
- Question authority: Develop the habit of asking "Is this right?"
- Train for independence: Copilot training includes ignoring foolish orders
- Design checks and balances: Don't rely on any single authority
- Recognize fallibility: Leaders are human and make mistakes
Application
When using this skill, help the user:
- Recognize when authority is being misused
- Make independent judgments rather than automatic compliance
- Create organizations that question appropriately
- Avoid being manipulated through authority appeals