Agent skill

Grad Spiral Of Silence

by asgard-ai-platform in asgard-ai-platform/skills

Apply spiral of silence theory (Noelle-Neumann) to analyze how perceived opinion climate suppresses minority expression.

MITAuto-check passed

Install Grad Spiral Of Silence

skills CLI
$ npx skills add asgard-ai-platform/skills --skill grad-spiral-of-silence -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install asgard-ai-platform/skills grad-spiral-of-silence --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/asgard-ai-platform/skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/grad-spiral-of-silence .claude/skills/grad-spiral-of-silence && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
grad-spiral-of-silence
GitHub stars
242
Token cost
~1.2k tokens
SKILL.md length
363 words
Files
4 (incl. references)
Skills in repo
207
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Apply spiral of silence theory (Noelle-Neumann) to analyze how perceived opinion climate suppresses minority expression.

  • Works in 4 steps: Identify the Issue → Measure Opinion Climate Perception → Assess Willingness to Speak → …
  • The user needs to understand why certain viewpoints disappear from public discourse
  • SKILL.md covers Overview, When to Use, Assumptions and Methodology, plus 3 more sections
  • Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md

What it does

Grad Spiral Of Silence is an agent skill from asgard-ai-platform/skills. Apply spiral of silence theory (Noelle-Neumann) to analyze how perceived opinion climate suppresses minority expression. Use this skill when the user needs to understand why certain viewpoints disappear from public discourse, evaluate the role of fear of isolation in opinion expression, or assess opinion climate dynamics — even if they say 'why are people afraid to speak up', 'silent majority', or 'social pressure on opinions'.

Its SKILL.md is about 1.2k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. The skill folder holds 5 other files, including reference files (for example `examples/sample_scenario.md`, `references/digital-spiral.md` and `references/measurement.md`).

The repository describes itself as: 301 open-source coding agent skills across 22 domains — methodology, judgment & gotchas packaged as Claude Agent Skills for the Asgard AI Platform. The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • The user needs to understand why certain viewpoints disappear from public discourse
  • Evaluate the role of fear of isolation in opinion expression
  • Assess opinion climate dynamics — even if they say why are people afraid to speak up
  • Silent majority

Example prompts

  • “why are people afraid to speak up”
  • “silent majority”
  • “social pressure on opinions”
  • “/grad-spiral-of-silence”

Workflow steps

4 steps, taken from the step headings in SKILL.md.

  1. Identify the Issue
  2. Measure Opinion Climate Perception
  3. Assess Willingness to Speak
  4. Analyze the Spiral

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 4e7f4f8. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md (its code samples are markdown).

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    No URLs in SKILL.md.

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Grad Spiral Of Silence loads about 1.2k tokens when it runs, and up to ~7.3k if it reads all its reference files. Until then it costs about 114 tokens; SKILL.md has 363 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~114
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~1.2k
With references · SKILL.md plus every file in references/, read only if the agent opens them
~7.3k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from asgard-ai-platform/skills at commit 4e7f4f8, republished under its MIT licence (© asgard-ai-platform). 363 words, ~1,164 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/grad-spiral-of-silence/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder). This skill also uses 3 other files; get the full folder from GitHub.
name
grad-spiral-of-silence
description
Apply spiral of silence theory (Noelle-Neumann) to analyze how perceived opinion climate suppresses minority expression. Use this skill when the user needs to understand why certain viewpoints disappear from public discourse, evaluate the role of fear of isolation in opinion expression, or assess opinion climate dynamics — even if they say 'why are people afraid to speak up', 'silent majority', or 'social pressure on opinions'.
metadata.category
WP-33 傳播/教育/公共行政
metadata.tags
communication, spiral-of-silence, public-opinion, media-effects

Spiral of Silence

Overview

The spiral of silence theory (Noelle-Neumann, 1974) explains how individuals' perception of the opinion climate — influenced by media and social observation — affects their willingness to express views. When people perceive their opinion as minority, fear of social isolation leads them to self-censor, creating a spiral where the perceived minority shrinks further.

When to Use

Trigger conditions:

  • Analyzing why certain opinions disappear from public discourse
  • Studying the relationship between perceived opinion climate and willingness to speak
  • Evaluating media's role in creating perceptions of majority/minority opinion

When NOT to use:

  • When studying which issues get attention (use agenda-setting)
  • When analyzing how issues are interpreted (use framing theory)
  • When studying group polarization dynamics (use social identity theory)

Assumptions

IRON LAW: The Spiral Activates ONLY on Morally-Loaded Issues

The mechanism requires:
1. The issue must be MORALLY loaded (social sanctions for deviance are real)
2. Individuals possess a QUASI-STATISTICAL SENSE — they constantly
   monitor the opinion environment to gauge majority/minority position
3. FEAR OF ISOLATION motivates conformity — people prefer silence
   over social exclusion
On value-neutral or purely factual topics, opinion climate has little
effect on expression willingness.

Methodology

Step 1: Identify the Issue

Select a morally loaded, controversial issue where social sanctions for holding a minority position are plausible.

Step 2: Measure Opinion Climate Perception

Survey respondents on: (a) their own opinion, (b) their perception of majority opinion, (c) their perception of future opinion trends.

Step 3: Assess Willingness to Speak

Use the "train test" (Noelle-Neumann): Would you discuss this topic with a stranger on a long train ride? Measure willingness to express opinion publicly.

Step 4: Analyze the Spiral

Test whether perceived minority status predicts reduced willingness to speak, controlling for opinion strength, demographics, and media use.

Show full SKILL.md (143 more words)Show less

Output Format

markdown
# Spiral of Silence Analysis: {Issue}

## Opinion Distribution
- Actual opinion split: {survey data}
- Perceived majority: {what people THINK most others believe}
- Perception gap: {difference between actual and perceived majority}

## Willingness to Speak
- Perceived majority holders: {expression willingness}
- Perceived minority holders: {expression willingness}
- Spiral evidence: {is perceived minority less willing to speak?}

## Media's Role
- Media portrayal of opinion climate: {which side media presents as dominant}
- Consonance: {are media outlets presenting similar opinion climate?}

## Moderators
- Hardcores: {individuals who speak regardless of climate}
- Issue type: {moral loading level}
- Online vs offline: {differences in expression context}

Gotchas

  • Online expression changes dynamics: Social media may weaken the spiral (anonymity reduces fear of isolation) or strengthen it (pile-on effects, cancel culture). The original theory predates digital communication.
  • Hardcores exist: Not everyone self-censors. "Hardcores" and opinion leaders speak regardless of perceived climate. The spiral applies to the conformist majority.
  • Media consonance is key: The spiral requires CONSONANT media — if media outlets present different opinion climates, individuals receive mixed signals and the spiral weakens.
  • Cultural variation: Fear of isolation varies across cultures. Individualist cultures may show weaker spirals than collectivist cultures with stronger conformity norms.
  • Reference group matters: People assess opinion climate within their REFERENCE GROUP, not society at large. A person may be in the global minority but the local majority.

References

  • For train test methodology and measurement, see references/measurement.md
  • For spiral of silence in digital media contexts, see references/digital-spiral.md

© asgard-ai-platform, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

SKILL.md and 3 other files (references) in grad-spiral-of-silence of asgard-ai-platform/skills.

  • SKILL.md
  • examples/sample_scenario.md
  • references/digital-spiral.md
  • references/measurement.md

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 4e7f4f8

Compare with similar skills

Grad Spiral Of Silence next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Grad Spiral Of Silence compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
Grad Spiral Of Silence this skillasgard-ai-platform/skills242—~1.2kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Integration Theoryparcadei/Continuous-Claude-v33.9k1 repos~929Automated safety check: NotesMIT
Spiral Curriculum DesignerTHU-MAIC/OpenMAIC40k—~1.2kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Asymptotic Theorybrycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills4.6k—~4.6kAutomated safety check: PassCustom licence
Operator Theoryparcadei/Continuous-Claude-v33.9k1 repos~879Automated safety check: NotesMIT
Proof Theoryparcadei/Continuous-Claude-v33.9k1 repos~452Automated safety check: NotesMIT

Similar skills

  • Integration Theory

    parcadei/Continuous-Claude-v3

    Problem-solving strategies for integration theory in measure theory

    3.9k GitHub starsUsed in 1 repo~929 tokens
    Research & ScienceAuto-check: notes
  • Designs a multi-lesson course series around a few core concepts that return at higher levels of complexity, abstraction, transfer and boundary awareness, not as repeated review.

    40k GitHub stars~1.2k tokensUpdated today
    EducationAuto-check passed
  • Asymptotic Theory

    brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills

    M-estimation, influence functions, and semiparametric efficiency theory for causal inference

    4.6k GitHub stars~4.6k tokensUpdated 5 days ago
    Research & ScienceAuto-check passed
  • Operator Theory

    parcadei/Continuous-Claude-v3

    Problem-solving strategies for operator theory in functional analysis

    3.9k GitHub starsUsed in 1 repo~879 tokens
    Research & ScienceAuto-check: notes
  • Proof Theory

    parcadei/Continuous-Claude-v3

    Problem-solving strategies for proof theory in mathematical logic

    3.9k GitHub starsUsed in 1 repo~452 tokens
    Auto-check: notes
  • Silence Detector

    benchflow-ai/skillsbench

    Detect initial silence segments in audio/video using energy-based analysis.

    1.8k GitHub stars~599 tokensUpdated 2 mo ago
    Documents & OfficeAuto-check passed

More from asgard-ai-platform/skills

All 207 skills in this repo
  • Algo Ecom Bm25

    asgard-ai-platform/skills

    Implement BM25 ranking function for e-commerce product search relevance scoring.

    242 GitHub stars~1.4k tokensUpdated 4 mo ago
    Auto-check passed
  • Algo Mfg Cpk

    asgard-ai-platform/skills

    Calculate Cpk process capability index to assess whether a process meets specification requirements.

    242 GitHub stars~1.1k tokensUpdated 4 mo ago
    Auto-check passed
  • Algo Price Elasticity

    asgard-ai-platform/skills

    Calculate price elasticity of demand to quantify how price changes affect sales volume.

    242 GitHub stars~1.1k tokensUpdated 4 mo ago
    Auto-check passed
  • Algo Rank Bayesian

    asgard-ai-platform/skills

    Apply Bayesian averaging to rank items by combining observed ratings with prior expectations.

    242 GitHub stars~1.1k tokensUpdated 4 mo ago
    Auto-check passed
  • Algo Rank Elo

    asgard-ai-platform/skills

    Implement Elo rating system to rank items or players from pairwise comparison outcomes.

    242 GitHub stars~1.1k tokensUpdated 4 mo ago
    Auto-check passed
  • Algo Rank Wilson

    asgard-ai-platform/skills

    Calculate Wilson Score confidence intervals for ranking items by positive proportion with sample size correction.

    242 GitHub stars~1.1k tokensUpdated 4 mo ago
    Auto-check passed

Questions about Grad Spiral Of Silence

What does Grad Spiral Of Silence do?

Apply spiral of silence theory (Noelle-Neumann) to analyze how perceived opinion climate suppresses minority expression. Grad Spiral Of Silence is an agent skill from asgard-ai-platform/skills. Apply spiral of silence theory (Noelle-Neumann) to analyze how perceived opinion climate suppresses minority expression.

When should I use Grad Spiral Of Silence?

Grad Spiral Of Silence fits situations like: the user needs to understand why certain viewpoints disappear from public discourse; evaluate the role of fear of isolation in opinion expression; assess opinion climate dynamics — even if they say why are people afraid to speak up; silent majority.

How do I install Grad Spiral Of Silence in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add asgard-ai-platform/skills --skill grad-spiral-of-silence -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (grad-spiral-of-silence in asgard-ai-platform/skills) into .claude/skills/grad-spiral-of-silence in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Grad Spiral Of Silence in Codex?

Run `npx skills add asgard-ai-platform/skills --skill grad-spiral-of-silence -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (grad-spiral-of-silence in asgard-ai-platform/skills) into .agents/skills/grad-spiral-of-silence in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Grad Spiral Of Silence in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add asgard-ai-platform/skills --skill grad-spiral-of-silence -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/grad-spiral-of-silence, .gemini/skills/grad-spiral-of-silence, .github/skills/grad-spiral-of-silence and .opencode/skills/grad-spiral-of-silence in your project.

What does Grad Spiral Of Silence need to run?

SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Grad Spiral Of Silence is instructions for the agent only.

Does Grad Spiral Of Silence access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Any network use would come from the scripts or tools the agent runs. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Grad Spiral Of Silence safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Grad Spiral Of Silence use?

Grad Spiral Of Silence is published under the MIT licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Grad Spiral Of Silence use?

About 1.2k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 4.7k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full. Its references folder adds about 6.1k tokens, read only when the agent opens those files.

What are the alternatives to Grad Spiral Of Silence?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Grad Spiral Of Silence: Integration Theory (parcadei/Continuous-Claude-v3, 3.9k stars), Spiral Curriculum Designer (THU-MAIC/OpenMAIC, 40k stars), Asymptotic Theory (brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills, 4.6k stars) and Operator Theory (parcadei/Continuous-Claude-v3, 3.9k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Grad Spiral Of Silence?

asgard-ai-platform (a GitHub organization) maintains it in asgard-ai-platform/skills, which has 242 GitHub stars. The repository holds 207 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on June 6, 2026.

Source: asgard-ai-platform/skills on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.