Emperor’s New Clothes, Conformity and Panchatantram

We all know the classic tale: “The Emperor’s New Clothes” (Danish: Kejserens nye Klæder) it is a short tale by Hans Christian Andersen about two weavers who promise an Emperor a new suit of clothes invisible to those unfit for their positions or incompetent. When the Emperor parades before his subjects in his new clothes, a child cries out, “But he isn’t wearing anything at all!” The tale has been translated into over a hundred languages. Peasants didn’t see the clothes, but dared not say anything for fear of persecution by the king. The child didn’t have that baggage.

Ah.. Crowd behavior. If there is anything predictable in this world, that is the crow behavior.

Some of you may know Asch Conformity experiments, which were a series of studies published in the 1950s that demonstrated the power of conformity in groups. These are also known as the “Asch Paradigm“. Why bore you with a lot of writing when you can watch what it is in this YouTube clip.

If you are a Gulute, and if it feels like you know of this behavior through a classic tale. You are right. You heard this behavior through a short story in Panchatantram: Brahmin and his Black Goat. The podcast is my rendering of this short story and its application by the Republican party during the past administration. I have colorful language to describe the shenanegans of the Democrats as well. I will save it for some other time.