Standing up against the pressures of everyday society, in other words standing up against the status quo within any given society, is my personal definition of anti-conformity. Over the years I haven’t done a very good job – an active Facebook, immersed in the world of politics and and popular culture around me, my situation in the world is ultimately a reflection of the world around me. But, it’s nearly impossible for all of us to be like Henry David Thoreau and go to the woods to escape the conformity of everyday life.
People make the argument that anti-conformity is a bad thing, and label you an outsider if you don’t conform to the beliefs of everyday society. Considering the statistics of how many people actually use any sort of drugs, or eat any sort of fast food, or watch terrible reality shows, it’s not hard to accept this as a merely biased statement. If anything, it’s best to look at Plato’s Allegory of the Cave for us to REALIZE it’s probably better to be an anti-conformist in this world, because you’re seeing the world from your own perspective, and not through the lens of somebody else.
In case you didn’t know what Plato’s Allegory of the Cave is, here’s my basic explanation of it:
A bunch of prisoners live their whole life chained, their heads only able to see the wall of the cave, where behind him there is a great fire. Between the fire and prisoners there exist a parapet, where puppeteers can walk. The puppeteers who are behind the prisoners hold up puppets which create shadow on the wall that the prisoners see. The prisoners will eventually, having lived their entire life in the cave, recognize and think the shadows on the walls are reality, when they are clearly just illusions.
When one prisoner somehow manages to escape the chains, and sees the outside world, he will recognize the shadows as a mere illusion. The person would leave the cave and eventually see the sun as a more physical reality than the shadows he was facing his entire life. He goes back to the cave to tell the others, but they merely laugh, ridicule, and kill him. He is basically seen an outsider by his world.
SOOOO, based on that analogy, it’s not that hard to recognize having different opinions than a majority of the population in the world can be seen as a good thing. Obviously this doesn’t mean you should go out and kill people, but should recognize the collective “hive mind” could be at times more dangerous than being able to think for yourself. Much like the prisoner who escaped the cave, we often treat outsiders and anti-conformists as if they’re merely “losers” or unfit to be a part of society.
Sometimes, it’s better to conform. It appears to me that perhaps being conformed to the group mindset often makes you subconsciously more happy. I’ve recognized that generally dumber people in society tend to be happier, because of their obvious ability to not over think things or situations. In the end, I will remain happily in between both paradigms – recognizing the values of a collective society, while at the same time not being afraid to challenge the norms and standards.
