Conformity vs Autonomy02.sep.25

Dear Audience,

Okay so there are two diff aspects of this (I.e. need to be the same, need to be diff.) so I’ll share my views on each separately here :)

On being the same, you mentioned ppl lacking their own opinions / agreeing just because they everyone else doing the same… well honestly I believe it’s because a large majority are extremely reliant on externalities, particularly other people (in research / academia for example they rely on authority figures’ such as ppl with extensive knowledge / experience on said subject), but in the modern world outside of academia for example, the reliance has bled over to more than just authority figures but rather anyone else that is not themselves, because they lack the ability to trust in their own judgment, so they take someone else’s and believe it’s their own (I believe this is due to over-consumption of media but that’s a separate topic!). Then there’s also the classic following mainstream trends / ideas so as to not stray from the norm for fear of being isolated (personally I think it stems from evolutionary theory that states humans are social animals)

But ironically like you said, while a large majority subconsciously have a need to be the “same”, simultaneously many harbour a conscious need to be different, even if they are inherently the same without trying to be. In short, I believe this stems from a need for autonomy because being melded into current trends and what’s mainstream could be perceived as being melded into a larger collective, and to be a collective is to not be “unique” or yourself, and consequently the brain equates this to non-existence (more specifically, the ego, according to “A New Earth” by Eckhart Tollé, good book), and in order to survive, they are naturally driven to go against the crowd.