Food For thought: Compliance and tyranny – The psychology behind why people are so obedient.

"These illusions of consensus lead many of us to censor our real opinions, and to comply with socially destructive agendas and ideologies."

"Collective illusions are social lies. They occur in situations where a majority of individuals in a group privately reject a particular opinion, but they go along with it because they (incorrectly) assume that most other people accept it. The result is a pernicious, self-fulfilling prophecy."

"Our inclination to go along with what we think is the consensus makes us vulnerable to propaganda and easily manipulated.

"For one of the primary ways that governments, corporations, and global institutions influence public opinion and shape mass behaviour is by manufacturing illusions of consensus."

More in the Academy of Ideas video. (Video segment start from 0:17 mins)