Individualism. Individualism is the
belief in one’s own self, in being unique and self-reliant. It is commonly said
that every person is indeed unique and different. Is this true? Or is society
changing that? Perhaps everyone is becoming more and more alike. Author and
Philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote “To be yourself in a world that is
constantly trying to make you into something else is the greatest
accomplishment”. When I look at the world around me, I see lots of people dressing
alike, acting alike, and trying to be like other people. I do believe that if
you stay true to yourself in this ever changing world, then that is the
greatest accomplishment.
According to this philosophy, does
the phrase “all great minds think alike” hold true? I believe that what makes a
mind great is the ability to think differently. People that think alike are
often narrow-minded. If a group of people see one abstract picture, such as the
ink blotches that are associated with psychiatry, and then ask them what it is,
you will probably get different answers. The first may say “a butterfly”, after
that, everyone else’s idea of what it may be is tainted by the first person’s
idea. They would become narrow-minded to the option there might be other interpretations
of the picture. They might be only able to see the butterfly now amidst the unorganized
mass of ink. So, the next person might say they also see the butterfly, and so
would the person after that. However, in that mix of people, one may say they
see a girl dancing. By him stating that, he may also change the opinions of
several others, and there also will be some who are cannot see that. Most of the
people though, will more likely still only see the butterfly because it was the
first and easiest thing to see. Of course this metaphor would not be always one
hundred percent accurate, however I think it suits my purpose. I feel that it
is that one or two people who see the picture, or the world, differently then
everyone around them are the great minds.
Many people in our common society
would often be considered “followers”. Followers as in they often don’t think
or act for themselves. They try to use someone else’s thoughts or actions to
pull them through life. (As I briefly showed in my previous metaphor) Most everyone has someone they look up to, an
idol of sorts, and though there is nothing wrong with this, trying to be exactly
like them is a problem. In our society, I notice this most with my peers and
their sports icons. A large percentage of my fellow high school goers are largely
sports fans. And many of my friends that are sports fans aspire to also become
a pro football or basketball player. One thing I notice is they believe it helps
to dress like the players. This is mainly spurred by advertising, which is
indeed trying to change a person, is it not? The very point of advertising is
trying to change the viewer’s opinion into buying a product, and sports icons
are perfect for them to use. In saying that if you wear this brand of shoes,
then you will be more like LeBron James, people will buy those shoes. People
come to believe their future success relies on the products that their icon
uses. This goes for such items as their shoes, or brand of clothes, etc. Maybe
that brand is the best for you, but instead of trying other things, other
brands, to find out for themselves they blindly follow their idol. If they do
become a pro sports player, that is great, they achieved their goal, but in
order to do this, they will have had to find their own way there. It does not
matter where you end up, but it is how you get there that matters.
The most common way I see
individualism taken away from someone is not by government, society or anything
of that sort, but by one’s own choice. I find that this is very true and prominent
in high school. In high school you see the different cliques; there are band
kids, sports jocks, drama kids, the nerds, the hipsters, etc. And in order to “fit
in” with a certain clique, you often change yourself to become more like the
other people in that association. You yourself take away your individuality by
trying to be something you are not. Many people do this by trying to be what we
know as hipsters. A hipster is someone who (according to Urban Dictionary) “shun
mainstream societal conventions”, and try to defy the cultural norm. However, “hipsterism”
has become more and more popular and prominent I our cultural society. Thus,
one who tries to be a hipster, or just be different in that way, in truth
becomes more mainstream than they originally were. In my mind, and in the minds
of individualist philosophers, then then only way to really be “different” is
to be true to yourself.
“To be yourself in a world that is
constantly trying to make you into something else is the greatest
accomplishment”, and indeed it is. It is hard sometimes to stay yourself in a
world that is constantly moving and changing. Staying true to yourself is not
just any accomplishment, but an important one. You cannot truly live until you discover
who you are, and live like it. I believe that if everyone stayed true to
themselves and did not let society change them, the world would be a more
diverse, simpler, and happier place. That is a very optimistic view point on
things, but it is who I am. And being that way, in Waldo’s terms, is the
greatest accomplishment.
