Cathedral thinking

This is an anecdote which I came across sometime back while reading an article on China (China again).
This was written by a person who visited Shanghai for the first time and saw massive construction activity going on. What he felt was that there was a heavy smog in the air because of all the construction activity and the emissions from the factories.
His comment was that as an outsider he felt it but nobody in the city seemed to mind it.

EWverybody was of the opinion that it is for the greater good and had learned to live with it.

This is like Cathedral thinking. Being a active part of something big thats coming up .