How do ideas spread? From the minority to the majority

Throughout history, we have verified how the prevailing ideology in different cultures, societies and times has varied enormously. However, we know that most people have beliefs that tend to be in line with those of the majority. The great ideological changes have been driven by ideas that have emerged from a few people and that over time have been accepted by many other fellow citizens.

Although great discoveries and breakthroughs were initially viewed with fear or even disgust, eventually many of them have achieved social acceptance and become the norm. Examples of this can be found in the belief in the equality of races, creeds, sexes and sexual orientations, or the consideration that the Earth was round and that it was not the center of the Universe. These changes are due to the fact that someone thought up and defended ideas not shared by the majority until they finally spread throughout the population. We are talking about the expansion of ideas.

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What does an idea need to expand?

The expansion of ideas that start out being held by very few people to eventually end up being the mainstream of thought is largely linked to the influence of minorities.

Generally, most of the population tends to seek and maintain criteria and beliefs in accordance with what society and the community tend to dictate. Adscription to these beliefs is relatively simple, taking into account that the environment and the sense of belonging make it easier for the majority ideas to be absorbed by the population.

But minority or innovative ideas do not have it so easy to break through, especially when there is already a pre-existing vision of the same topic followed by a majority.

In order for a minority idea to end up spreading, it is usually necessary in the first place that the idea in question be perceived as consistent. In other words, although it may show differences over time, these differences follow an identifiable baseline that does not change.

It is about maintaining coherence, both intrapersonally and interpersonally. (that is, that the basic idea is the same for the person himself over time and that it is also the same for the different people who defend it). This coherence must be maintained even in spite of the existence of pressures (whether they are explicit or implicit) or social disapproval of the majority, which nevertheless ends up looking at said persistence.

Another element to take into account is the fact that the expansion of ideas occurs not only among people who belong to the same minority group, but also reach and be accepted by some exponents of the most. This is important so that other people who are part of the same ideological current pay attention to the new idea as something that has been found acceptable by someone belonging to the same group with which it is identify. Thus, they would serve as an example for the expansion of the idea in question to take place.

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The process of ideological contagion

The minority idea is not immediately accepted: the majority initially ignores it or even despises it. But little by little people are learning about it, about its consistency over time, and some people are sympathizing with the ideology in question. Little by little, some of the members of the majority come to consider the idea as something positive, and in some cases come to share it.

At the same time, said "conversion" is perceived by the rest of the majority group as something viable and it begins to be seen that the idea is not only of "the different", but something that can be embraced by others. And as more and more is shared, it ends up reaching a significant number of the population, which in turn will generate more and more social acceptance. In the end, the idea that at first was considered strange can become the majority.

The inflection point

It is considered that there is a turning point from which an idea that was initially a minority begins to be observed and expands at great speed. Some studies identify this point when the idea or ideology in question expands to reach about 10% of a population. Although until then the idea has been expanding, it is from this point that it begins to become a great social echo and reaches levels of expansion that can turn it into a majority.

examples

Clear examples of the expansion of ideas are those that can be seen in the introduction to this article. The rights of blacks, women and homosexuals These were aspects that in the beginning were considered aberrational and ridiculous, and that nevertheless to this day (although they still persist in some social sectors who are opposed) are elements that are integrated or in the process of integration in most of the society.

For example, two centuries ago to think that a woman could vote, that blacks had the same rights as whites, or that someone who felt sexual inclination towards people of the same sex deserved and could love whoever they wanted was unthinkable, but today what is strange for most is otherwise.

Also multiple scientific advances, such as performing surgeries that involve opening the body and manipulating internal organs (something unthinkable and criminalized in other times), the importance of hygiene or much more recent elements such as stem cell research have undergone changes of this type. Even cultures and religions (for example, Christianity was persecuted for centuries by the empire Roman until it became the predominant religion of that empire) have developed in the same way mode. Social movements, such as that of the recent Arab spring, have also followed the same principle.

However, the truth is that good and positive ideas for the human being in general have not always spread. Ideologies such as Nazism or fascism in general have also emerged and spread in the same way.

Bibliographic references:

• Moscovici, S. & Personnaz, B. (1980). Studies in social influence V: Minority influence and conversion behavior in a perceptual task. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 16: 270-282. Xie, J.; Sreenivasan, S.; Korniss, G.; Zhang, W.; Lim, C. & Szymanski, B.K. (2011). Social consensus through the influence of committed minorities. Physical Review E. 84 (1). American Physical Society.