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The reasons brainstorming fails are instructive for other forms of group work, too. People in groups tend to sit back and let others do the work; they instinctively mimic others’ opinions and lose sight of their own; and, often succumb to peer pressure. The Emory University neuroscientist Gregory Berns found that when we take a stance different from the group’s, we activate the amygdala, a small organ in the brain associated with the fear of rejection. Professor Berns calls this “the pain of independence.”

January 11, 2012 – Jim DeMint – The Daily Show With Jon Stewart – Full Episode Video | Comedy Central

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Everyone says it, but it is worth repeating – Jon Stewart and the team at The Daily Show are brilliant on multiple levels. This clip with Senator Jim DeMint is perhaps more a debate than an interview – but it is an honest, well-researched and clear questioning of a person in power.

January 11, 2012 – Jim DeMint – The Daily Show With Jon Stewart – Full Episode Video | Comedy Central

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Lately, though, there has emerged a third Colbert. This one is a version of the TV-show Colbert, except he doesn’t exist just on screen anymore. He exists in the real world and has begun to meddle in it. In 2008, the old Colbert briefly ran for president, entering the Democratic primary in his native state of South Carolina. (He hadn’t really switched parties, but the filing fee for the Republican primary was too expensive.) In 2010, invited by Representative Zoe Lofgren, he testified before Congress about the problem of illegal-immigrant farmworkers and remarked that “the obvious answer is for all of us to stop eating fruits and vegetables.”

Speaking of Colbert – this is a brilliant article.

How Many Stephen Colberts Are There? – NYTimes.com