In two other threads, Victims of Groupthink and Social Influence, I discussed the powerful influences that other people and situations have on us. On this thread, I will discuss an interpersonal characteristic that further hinders us, some times, in reaching sound conclusions. This is covered under the concept of Attribution Theory.
This theory has to do with how we assign (Attribute) a cause to our behavior or other people's behavior. There is a lot of detail and a lot of points that could be made, so I will limit the discussion to just a few points. First of all, there is a tendency to attribute failure on our part to the environment, that is, the people and things around us. There is also the tendency to attribute the problem some else has to the person themselves, not to their environment.
The first time I saw this in action was at a Time Management seminar. First, the speaker asked the audience to write out a list of time management problems. These were listed on a chalk board. The majority of these had to do with the environment, e.g, interuptions, added assignments, the telephone, etc. Next, he asked the audience to watch a tape of a manager at work, with time management problems. The audience attributed the problems to the manager, not to his environment. They had all kinds of suggestions as to how the manager could fix his problems, but passively had accepted their own as not their fault. Interesting. Another example - when someone looses a job, they tend to attribute the cause to the environment, e.g., bad boss, bad company, bad economy. Very few attribute the cause to themselves, though some do. What do most people say or think, when they have a job and others don't. "Those other people are lazy, messed up somehow, etc. They blame it on the person, not the person's situation.
So what is the point of all this? Who is at fault, in the WT system, the rank and file, the elders or the system. I know it goes against the grain to conclude this, but I think it is the system, the environment. Think about it, you were part of the system, but most of you don't blame yourself (some do, but not most), yet for those still in, you castigate them as evil elders, brain dead publishers, etc. How can you do that when you were once them. Think about it.