Conformist

If everything you believe is something that you are supposed to believe, what are the odds that it is really a coincidence?

TL;DR

If you have no opinions you are reluctant to share, you are likely thinking the way you have been told to think. Real change in the world has always come from unconventional thinkers, not conformists. Start by questioning why you think what you think.

How many of your opinions are you reluctant to express in front of your friends/colleagues? Why so?

If the answer to the above question is “None”, step back and give it a thought. Odds are you are thinking in a way that you are told.

The other way to get the same answer is that you independently thought about each and every possibility for each of these scenarios and ended up having the exact same answer. This is a highly unlikely scenario for obvious reasons.

Artists put voluntary mistakes so that they can identify when someone copies their work. So do mapmakers.

What are we trading for being conformist? If every generation had only conformists, science, technology, and medicine would not have evolved this much. It is the outlaws, renegades, and unconventionals that bring real change to the world.

Use your brain, start thinking about why you are thinking what you think. Are you just already too much programmed?

For more reflections like this, see Thoughts.

FAQ

Q: How do you know if you are a conformist? A: A simple test: if none of your opinions make you reluctant to express them in front of friends or colleagues, the odds are high that you are thinking in a way you have been programmed to think rather than arriving at conclusions independently.

Q: Is conformity always bad? A: Not inherently. But if every generation had only conformists, science, technology, and medicine would not have evolved. It is the unconventional thinkers who challenge the status quo and drive meaningful change.

Q: How can you start thinking more independently? A: Begin by asking why you think what you think. Examine where your beliefs come from – are they inherited, socially imposed, or genuinely your own? Artists and mapmakers put deliberate mistakes in their work to detect copies. Your borrowed beliefs are the equivalent of those copied mistakes.