Bio
Weblog
Weblog archive
What is a Prion?
Links to Stuff
Musings
Desktops
Exalted
Master's Thesis
Angry Cows
Zangband Comic
WoW Comic
WoW Guides
Socioconformation
The urge to conform to those societally around us is strong and, I suspect, extremely ingrained. I probably have less of it than 90% of the populace (very conservative estimate) and yet it is still instinctive to not be the only one to raise my hand when something is actually at stake, like choosing from a multiple choice question when I'm not sure about the answer.
How I got here has to be a very tight confluence of factors: self-confidence, unusual tastes, being unusual in thought processes (being borderline ASD helps), and my particular brand of humor that lets me laugh at myself (I understand that's also a bit rare, though certainly not near 10%).
I was just considering how I would pass such a thing on to my children, and then I realized it would probably be a disservice to try and mold my children in my own image, self-serving arrogance and nothing else. The self-confidence component is crucial for well-being, but that by itself doesn't make someone want to be the only person in a category.
I suppose the other thing I was thinking is that for someone who stands out nearly all the time, it's easier for me to have empathy for someone unusual. I feel like anyone who conforms most or all of the time, no matter how intelligent and kind they are, has a hard time understanding a freakazoid who seems to willfully be different from everyone else. When you're on the inside looking out, you see a bunch of mysterious characters. When you're on the outside looking in, you understand the appeal of being in but you can also get to know the outside better.
Those stories one reads about outsiders forming their own circle and then banishing or being snobby towards otehr freaks are pretty sad, in that they learn nothing from being outside. They were probably on the outside trying to get in, but couldn't. Rather than accepting the fact that the inside was not for them, they formed their own inside and imitated the conformers they despised.
Anyone wanna guess that the fictional of those stories were written by insiders unable to comprehend someone who didn't want to conform? Maybe? Seems like a lack of imagination at work. Then again it may also be the instinctive drive to conform playing at an outsider's mind.
Yeah, dunno.