re Groupthink:
Most active threads have a core of active posters, who make 90% of the posts. And, they develop a range of acceptable debate, a range of acceptable opinion. Step outside that range, and you get flamed, and asked to leave the thread (as UF just asked me to do).
This is Groupthink. One of its characteristics is that people within the Group think they are being rational, fair, and objective. Only people "beyond the Pale" are labelled as rude, irrational, with hidden motives.
For instance, Crystal Meth is tolerated here, while I get called rude. Every one of his posts is stream-of-consciousness euphoria, just gibberish. He makes up numbers, and posts them over and over. He flames everyone who isn't as euphoric as he is. Why is he amusing, while I am rude?
For instance, about 12 months ago, on practically every SI thread, anyone who posted he thought a tech stock would go down (for any reason), got called a shorter, and acccused of trying to talk the stock down.
For instance: another characteristic of Groupthink, is that people who disagree with the ThreadConsensus, tend to post their thoughts in PMs, because they feel inhibited about posting it publicly. Most of the posts agreeing with me have been PMs, while the ridicule gets done publicly.
For instance: I couldn't get a debate going on this thread, a while ago, about the possibility of NTAP warning, and what realistic forward EPS expectations should be. Saying that NTAP could miss, was outside the range of acceptable debate, until the facts became so obvious and overwhelming that they couldn't be ignored any longer.
I see signs, now, that the GroupThink on this thread is dissolving. Really, though, it's way, way too late. The time when opinions like mine should have been welcomed on this thread, the time when the potential downside should have been thoroughly discussed on this thread, was 6-12 months ago. That's when it would have been useful.
I think my analogies to being "married to the stock", and the "cult of NTAP" fairly describe the dynamics of this thread over the last year. |
