[pdonis]

> group norms have evolved over time, incorporating the experiences and knowledge of many people

While this can often be true, it's not always true. Furthermore, it's often a testable hypothesis, and in those cases, it should be tested, not just assumed.

Also, the "conformity" case in the article involves a group of people (the confederates trying to manipulate the unwitting test-taker) who are violating a common norm (namely, that the normal behavior of people when a fire alarm goes off and smoke is seen is to get out, not calmly continue going about their business). So that case is not testing "how well do you follow group norms that make sense"; it's testing "how willingly will people follow a group that is doing something that obviously does not make sense". That's a different thing.