Silence, silencing and silent

A moment of panic sets in...What in the world does the term "silencing" mean? Clearly, to discuss it, I must understand it's definition. I begin by reviewing my reading notes...to no avail. Then I examine the glossary of each required book. Nada.

Hmmm...this doesn't sound so good for the home team. Then again, in the absence of a previously supplied explicit definition, I can take this as my opportunity to define (based on the readings) what I believe this term means.

Glen's dictionary: Silencing is a process by which information is not elicited or aggregated.

Sunstein, page 7, indicates that there are four mechanisms by which information is elicited or aggregated. These include statistical averaging (e.g. surveying), deliberation, price system, or use of internet. As Sunstein then discusses, there are several ways by which each method can obtain inaccurate information. For example, in the dark side of the jury theorem, the likelihood of the group being correct approaches 0% as the population increases and each individual member is more likely right than wrong. For a more detailed description, see page 28.

Ugh - so much for "strength in numbers!!!"

The umbrella term I've selected to apply to these various means of knocking the wheels off the wagon for each method is "silencing."

Example 1: Anchors. I begin with the "knowledge" that the world is flat. I decide not to finance shipping too far into the Atlantic for fear that my boat will fall off into nothingness. As a result of my biased start point, I've failed to discover the American Continent (the "dark ages" example).

Example 2: Minority silencing. As the only 6'10" member of the class, I have some strong views on ergonomics. Door frames which are only 6'8" from the ground, ceiling fans hovering at 6'5" and water fountains 3' from the ground all bug me. Yet, due to the absence of height diversity on the design team, these usability issues abound. (the "height design" example. see Sunstein pg. 70 for a good discussion of diversity in deliberative teams).

Example 3: Amplifying errors. Closely connected to the information cascade previously discussed. This occurs because commonly shared information is more likely to be discussed (Sunstein pg. 84). For instance, our class is derived from the MAPC program. Therefore, we've all gained exposure to rhetorical theory. We can chat social constructionism pretty openly. It's a safe topic. Therefore, that's something we talk about openly.