The emperor’s new clothes, a story about the power of the majorities

The Emperor’s New Clothes is a classic story by Hans Christian Andersen. Talk about how the opinion of others shapes and determines your own opinion. There are few who dare to face what they will say.

The Emperor’s New Clothes is a story by Hans Christian Andersen that has been passed down from generation to generation without losing any of its charm.. This is a story about the power of the majority, which is applicable to countless situations.

History says that this was an emperor who loved dresses. She had her closets full of beautiful clothes, but she always wanted better ones. She only wanted to dress with the utmost elegance and nothing mattered more to her. Sometimes she even neglected the affairs of the empire, just to enjoy his clothes.

This story tells about the power of the majorities that, on one occasion, a couple of scoundrels came to the kingdom. They knew of the emperor’s weakness for clothing and so they concocted a scam. They began to spread the story that they were capable to make extraordinary fabrics, with unique properties.

“For those who are afraid, everything is noise”.

-Sophocles-

The scam

The rumors that these men spread reached the ears of the emperor, who immediately ordered them to be summoned to his presence. He wanted to know what they were offering. The men said that the cloth they made was so soft and wonderful that barely the body I felt it.

They added that said fabric had a unique quality: it could not be seen by stupid people. or by those who were incompetent for their positions. The emperor was enthralled. He thought it was fabulous that not only were they offering him the fabric to make one more dress, but that through it he could evaluate his servants.

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According to this story about the power of majorities, Without thinking twice, the emperor ordered a dress to be made from the magic cloth.. The men asked for a handsome advance and installed a loom. They pretended to work day and night on it, generating very high expectations.

The emperor’s new suit

Dying of curiosity, the emperor sent his prime minister to bring him news of his expected assignment. When the official arrived at the loom, the scammers asked him if he thought it was beautiful. the emperor’s new suit. The man was stunned. He didn’t know what to say.

He thought that if he said he hadn’t seen anything, they would take him for a fool. Or worse, they would say he was unfit for his position.. So he decided to play along and say that the suit was beautiful. This was later communicated to the emperor, who was satisfied with the diligence.

The tricksters then asked for more money, to increase the beauty of the dress. The emperor gave it to him without question.. However, time passed and the suit was not ready. So he decided to send a new official to verify the progress. Again the official saw nothing, but upon his return he said: “It’s the most beautiful suit I’ve ever seen.”.

A story about the power of the majorities

The emperor appointed the two scoundrels as imperial weavers. Then he announced to them that they would soon have a big celebration, so he needed them to finish his new suit, to show it off that day.. History says about the power of majorities, which men gladly accepted.

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The day of the great celebration finally arrived and the scammers arrived with the suit to the royal bedroom. Miming accordingly, they told him: “Here are the pants.” Then “Here is the jacket” and so on. The emperor, of course, saw nothing, but he, like the others, was not going to allow himself to be taken for a fool or incompetent.

All the courtiers praised the emperor’s beautiful dress. They commented on how good it looked on him. Also about the great quality of the fabric and the perfection of the finishes. According to the story about the power of majorities, The emperor was pleased to see the reaction of the others. So much so that he wanted to go out for a walk so that his subjects could admire him..

He began to walk through the streets and people, who knew about the subject, continued to compliment his suit. Suddenly, a child raised his voice in the crowd. “But he’s naked!“, said. Other children next to her repeated the same thing. The others, including the emperor, acted as if they had not heard.