Although we didn't discuss this in class, it was covered on the quiz and I thought I might expand upon it here.
The Abilene Paradox refers to a situation in which voting members do not express their opinions and as such end up with an outcome that is contrary to all the voting members' desires. This occurs as a result of poor communication.
In Camp Wildcat, I nearly experienced this situation, as I mentioned on the quiz, but I think this happens a lot. People tell themselves their votes don't count and so they don't vote, and yet such a large number of people think their votes won't count that they make up a significant percentage of the voting population.
I would be interested to see how often this happens, although it would be impossible to measure (how would you know if your group decided something that was contrary to all of your wishes if you don't talk about it in the first place?). It would also be interesting to see in what other ways we defeat ourselves through issues of communication and confidence.
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