Conformity Bias As A Barrier To Critical Thinking

 Conformity Bias As A Barrier To Critical Thinking

M. Bakri Musa 

March 15, 2026

Excerpt from My Quran, Hadith, And Hikayat:  Exercises In Critical Thinking (Updated) 

Beyond mindset, there is the matter of conformity, group bias, and social pressures that would dissuade us from thinking critically. Do that often enough and you would end up as if you were not capable of any critical thinking.

Unlike some languages which sound harsh, guttural, and impudent, Malay is soft, melodious, with minimal pounding consonants. The most effective insult in Malay would be to express it in the most indirect way, as subtle as possible. It is difficult to be polemical or assertive in Malay as that would sound impudent if not outright rude and crude. It is difficult to say in Malay to your superior that you disagree with him. To be direct or frontal is frowned upon in Malay culture. That in turn is reflected in the language.

I challenge anyone to say in Malay to his sultan, “I am sorry Your Highness. I respectfully disagree with you.” It just cannot be done without sounding rude, or worse. This can lead to hilarious circumstances. In 2008 the Chief Minister of Perak, Nizar Jamaluddin, disagreed with his sultan on the key issue of dissolving the State Assembly following the defections of a few of the ruling coalition members. As Nazir was forced to speak in Malay, his speech began thus, “Patek memohon sembah derhaka . . . !”

Translated, “I, your slave, plead to be traitorous . . . !”

Going back to the rash of Korean Airline crashes mentioned earlier, the American National Transport Safety Board (NTSB) found a number of issues with the cockpit crew training. One stood out, unrelated to either mechanical or engineering issues, rather the poor spoken English of the cockpit crew. English is the language of aviation. While the Korean crew’s English was comprehensible to the control tower personnel in Korea, it was not to Americans. The Koreans sounded gibberish, requiring frequent clarifications from the tower.

The other was culture. The strict “power distance” among the cockpit crew makes fast and effective communications difficult. In an emergency, that could prove catastrophic. Indeed, that was the major contributing factor as found by the NTSB.

The head of Korean Airlines recognized his company’s problem, proving that you can think critically no matter what language you habitually speak. Unable to solve the monumental problems himself, he hired an American consultant who diagnosed the basic problem, that is, miscommunication in the cockpit. He found the rigid social structure of Korean society, with its attendant power distance, as well as the Korean language itself were significant barriers to effective communication, in particular the reluctance to criticize one’s superior.

Korean is worse than Malay in having dozens of pronouns like “I” and “You” depending on the power and social distance between the speakers, or the social status of the speaker with respect to whom he or she is addressing. This is also the case with Malay language, though to a much lesser degree.pFollowing the consultant’s recommendations, Korean Airlines instituted an all-English policy in the cockpit at all times. Cockpit communications improved, and with that, the airline’s safety record and profitability. The pronoun “you” and “I” apply whether you are the exalted captain, first officer, or cabin cleaner.

Now imagine the various governmental and other agencies in Malaysia as with the universities where members of the royalty are often appointed as heads not simply titular but with major executive powers. Can you imagine robust discussions taking place in such bodies, with everyone genuflecting to His or Her Royal Highnesses and the glut of Yang Amat Mulias. Therein lies the problem (and a very major one) with Malaysian public administrations.

Next:  Current State of Malaysian Education