Thursday, July 2, 2009

Being Unique

I have always been amazed at the fact that very few people in this world are truly unique individuals. Is it some divine authority that decides our fate in regards to our uniqueness or do we become unique out of our own volition and effort? I do not know the answer to that neither can I say that I strive to be unique but I try my best to resist the external forces of peer pressure. I do not know if being a leader and unique are synonymous but for the sake of illustrating my point they will be.

I am the type of person who does not like to follow trends if I am not in agreement with it. I will only follow a trend if it suits my interests and if I find it particularly fascinating! Modern society is constructed in such a way that the ethos of a particular culture causes the majority of that population to follow a certain movement. I am an anarchist at heart; if a group of people are crossing the street going towards the right I will go left. On the other hand, most people have become so complacent with society's norms that a counter culture is obsolete. I have one simple theory that explains this: people are fearful of being different or being branded with the title of "weird". Additionally most people prefer to stay in their comfort zone and refuse to think outside the box!!!!! Since when does having your own style and opinion become weird? The single most important part of being humans is that we are INDIVIDUALS NOT CLONES! The idiosyncrasies that each person possesses makes life interesting. This is what makes the world revolve. Doesn't individuality and personal opinion count anymore? In general people in this world have a hard time challenging peer pressure. Conversely they will take extreme measures in order to fit in and be part of the crowd!

If we lived in a homogeneous population life would be so blaze. You would think that participating in a popular trend that we don't particularly like would unite us as human beings. Paradoxically so, it creates a larger gap between us and the world. By following trends that we aren't in accordance with, we are alienating ourselves from our intrinsic qualities and values. By alienating ourselves from our true inner beings we increase the distance between us and the rest of society. The logic behind this theory is by masking who we are, people don't have the opportunity to get to know the true us, reducing the level of intimacy between humanity. This phenomenon culminates in a large group with weak ties.

Fitting in is high on the level of importance of the human agenda. I ask myself why? Every individual that is different brings something new to the table. A collective group of workers with different talents, strengths, qualities, and opinions makes a more successful company. By abandoning our inherent traits and convictions we are abolishing any effort at the betterment of mankind. Being your own person only contributes to the greater good of society. A mosaic of viewpoints, styles, cultures, and personalities makes the world a beautiful place!

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