I grew up idolizing Weird Al Yankovic for his proud jab at conformity. It was romantic and rebellious, exactly the sort of cause every preteen searches for. My friends and I continued to design a sort of cult around him and took it upon ourselves to actively stand out. We took pride in our work and responded to the label "weird" with a flattered blush.
Seven years after our hay-day, I went to revisit our doctrine. Some part of the ignorant idealism is still attractive to me. Over these past years I have been seeking temperance. My philosophy holds open-mindedness as most sacred, and somewhere along the line I lost the edge and aggression that comes with knowing what you stand for. Generally this was a healthy and needed shift of mind, but it still leaves me seeming weak and conviction-less. Clearly defining what I stand for could benefit me even if it makes me less diplomatic. I can deal with being wrong as long as people respect my opinion. Creating a foundation of views is a good starting point, it can always be built upon and improved with the help of collaborators.
Despite my desire to become a more confrontational individual, I want to give a brief defense for conformity:
At some level we all acquiesce to society's will. It is the only way to keep order and an identifiable culture. The pressure to fit is always under harsh scrutiny by intellectuals but their constant criticism comes across as a rejection of humanity. The desire to be part of a group is basic human nature and with good reason. Back in my rebellious days, we antagonized people to the point of losing their respect. We even lost a group member who found our actions to be too embarrassing in the face of public opinion. Sensitivity to others allows us to work together to a communal benefit. If we lose sight of society we can easily be written off as mentally compromised which prevents others from valuing what we have to say not to mention the emotional difficulties of social rejection. If we understand and respect the bounds of culture others are more inclined to listen to us because they have an easier time relating to our ideals and rationale.
Fitting in is important to our success. I know most people have this internalized but bringing it to the surface helps us understand why we tend toward the herd mentality. Next time you scold yourself for following the crowd, take a step back and make sure you are acting against your values before you are too harsh with yourself. As long as we stand by our ideology when it comes to bear, it is useful to accept our conformism.
