Conformity is the Jailer of Freedom and the enemy of growth
John F Kennedy
When
we are all the same, everything is stale. Having diversity is the way we find
the things that are better than the way they are. We use biological diversity
to find new medicines and ways to advance society. We find new materials by
looking at the strange differences between all the things in he world. We find
glue, clothes, armor and food in animals, mushrooms and plants. Conformity of
the natural world would cause a lack of this safety net of new possibilities.
This is why we need to make sure we have new possibilities in our lives
For
the same reason why we need to have a setup, which promotes natural diversity,
we need a setup in our culture that promotes a diversity in skill. There are
many types of brilliant and not all of them are measured in tests. There are
people who can come up with brilliant mistakes, or they can remember unseemly
amounts of information. This is why we should increase the type of education we
provide so that we can be provided with many new types of information. It also
will allow for more of our people to have a source to find a way to help
society. When we have a specific set of skills, which are the only ones,
valued, than a significant set of the population will not be able to succeed.
In conformity we find a lack of opportunity and thus growth. Conformity creates
a lack of success in the individual and in the society.
Conformity
also is the source of the ability to bully. In conformity a group can find what
is considered right. If a group finds that on in their midst is not doing the
right thing this causes an empowered feeling that encourages other bullying.
This is the way that bullying becomes virulent, is through a set of expected
standards. It both allows for bullying by creating an expected standard, and it
bullies the people who are unable to meet the expected standard.
However
the most dangerous weakness of conformity is that if everyone is the same, when
a weakness becomes apparent and dangerous. This is important because for
instance if all of the houses in a neighborhood have the same weakness, when
one collapses all of them collapse.
This
is why we need to avoid conformity because it creates a lack of opportunity,
ability for success and defense against disaster
"When we have a specific set of skills, which are the only ones, valued, than a significant set of the population will not be able to succeed. In conformity we find a lack of opportunity and thus growth. " This piece stuck out to me because it reminds me of why I chose AP over Ib; AP allows the unique individual to create a blend of subjects geared to his strengths or interests, cultivate them, and thus specialize certain skills and be beneficial to society. This isn't to condemn IB; its a commendable program that promotes well rounded students. However, sometimes the set curriculum seems to strangle a bit and produce a mass of cookie cutter kids who know the same stuff and are equally exhausted. Anyhow, good post :) clear points that form a compelling argument
ReplyDeleteThis post was very though provoking, I liked the quote that you used. Whenever someone talks about conformity I always think about the emo kids on South Park. But conformity is much more than that, it's an oppression or people's thought and actions, a silencing of people's persona's. You shouldn't try your hardest to quell the ideas of somebody who doesn't agree with you, and you shouldn't try to get them to agree with you either. People should have the right to think whatever they want, no matter how much it deviates from what you think, good post, I really enjoyed it.
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