The Colors of Our World German theoretical physicist, Albert Einstein once said, “It is important to foster individuality, for only the individual can produce the new ideas”. There’s two types of people in this world. You have one who conforms and follows others, and then you have one who strives for greatness, and embraces individuality. Conforming and blending in with others is more fatal than it seems. People who conform get lost in the roller coaster one calls life, and lose sight of who one truly is. Individualism is standing out from the normal everyday crowd, not blending in. It’s standing up for one’s personal beliefs, not being afraid to share them. It’s being unique compared to others. Individualism is a crucial key in society, …show more content…
For instance, in Richard Koch’s article, Individualism Good or Bad?, he said, “My second contention is that individualism has been an enormous success in encouraging ordinary people to realize their potential and their inner depths.”. One who values individualism, is more aware of what makes one truly happy. It makes one more likely to choose what makes them happy rather than going along with others and conforming. Furthermore, Koch adds a quote from philosopher Michel de Montaigne who said, “The greatest thing on earth is to know how to belong to oneself. Everyone looks in front of them. But I look inside myself. I have no concerns but my own. I constantly reflect on myself; I control myself; I taste myself. We owe some things to society, but the greater part of ourselves.” (Koch, Richard). Life isn’t about being unhappy and and following what people say even if one doesn't agree with it. Man deserves to be happy and has a voice, so why not use it? As a matter of fact, he continues the article by saying, “Individualism and personalization are moral and social processes. They are nothing less than humanity’s quest for personal freedom and responsible self-expression.” Happiness is made by one man, not a group. Happiness is an individual feeling, and it can’t be made from conformity. No matter how important individualism is, there are some who believe that conformity is more important in society …show more content…
As a matter of fact, In Charlie Sorrel’s article, Conformity Is Good For You, And Everyone Else On Earth, it’s states, “Conforming isn’t just good for you, it’s good for the species.”. People who conform do not change the world, Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, and Galileo are only a fraction of individuals who have made a major impact to society. The key word is individuals, not conformists. In addition, he adds a quote from author, Michael Muthukrishna who said, “By being conformist, we copy the things that are popular in the world. And those things are often good and useful.” (Sorrel, Charlie). Why copy and try to be like someone famous, when you can be more than that? Without individualism the world we live in would be dull and depressing. Furthermore, in Arthur Miller's playwright The Crucible, it said “Proctor, grasping her by the throat as though he would strangle her: Make your peace with it! Now Hell and Heaven grapple on our backs, and all our old pretense is ripped away—make your peace!”. In Miller’s playwright, the whole town ended up conforming and it ended in death and disaster. The playwright goes to show how bad conforming can be to society. No matter how much one thinks conforming is good, the evidence only goes to show how bad it can be to
Conformity can be very crucial, infact a lot of people eventually start hurting themselves or doing drugs just because they don't feel themselves anymore.Why can't society change? why can't that one kid that always follows everyone in the back can turn into the kid that just hangs with the people they really wanna hang with?We need to embrace ourselves so we can stop all this conformity from consuming us.Tupac was a nonconformist, he always did what made him happy and always told the truth.
Individualism and collectivism are conflicting beliefs with the nature of humans, society, and the relationships between them, however, these ideologies are not diametrically opposing since both are essential towards balancing beliefs from becoming extremes. The first source represents the idea of collectivism and suggests that the society must focus on moving their viewpoint from ‘me’ into ‘we’ in the interest of survival and progression. This perspective presents the idea that the individual’s advantage belongs not only to the person, but to the group or society of which he or she is a part of, and that the individual’s values and goals are for the group’s “greater good.” Likewise, Karl Marx’s principle of communism emphasizes in the elimination
The first basic issue confronting all societies is to define the nature of the relation between the individual and the group. This dimension is frequently labeled as individualism versus collectivism (Hofstede, 1980, 1991). In cultures at the Conservatism pole of the dimension, Schwartz (1994) noted that the person is viewed as embedded in a collectivity, finding meaning in life largely through social relationships, through identifying with the group and participating in its shared way of life. Schwartz (1999) noted that this value type emphasizes maintenance of the status quo, propriety, and restraint of actions or inclinations that might disrupt the solitary group or the traditional order. Exemplary specific values are social order, respect
Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Benjamin Franklin embraced aspects of individualism in varying degrees. Individualism is defined by Merriam-Webster Dictionary as “a doctrine that the interests of the individual are or ought to be ethically paramount…” and
Hypothesis: “We hypothesize that the performance of individual members in such situations is likely to be highest when the members hold both individualist and collectivist orientations toward their work” (Hollenbeck, Humphrey, Meyer, Wagner, 2012, pg. 947).
The idea of Individualism can be traced all the way back to England before America’s existence. As we know, individualism has been interpreted in many forms throughout history. The 19th century is no different, taking hold of its own idea of individualism, called transcendentalism. Transcendentalism suggests freedom should not be confined to those focused on money and superficial gains. Instead, people should depend on no one but themselves. This movement focused on “greater individualism against conformity” (Corbett et al.). Heavily influenced by the Romantic period, transcendentalism adopted the belief that reason was more important than logic as Benjamin Franklin has believed. Reason must also include unique emotion and spirit (Corbett et
Individualism from the transcendentalist era is very different then it is in the modern day. In the transcendentalist era, everyone believed that the person is more important than the society. You see this in self reliance where Emerson says “Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. Accept the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries, the connection of events” (Emerson par. 3). In this quote, i believe the emerson is saying that you know what's best for yourself and you should follow your heart, but society is always going to try to tell you something different. In the modern day, people rely more on the
In the recent weeks, I have noticed a trend in our cultural beliefs regarding groups outside of our own. As a nation, while the United States has a strongly individualistic nature from a personal perspective, there is also a strong collectivist belief regarding everyone outside of themselves and their groups. Rather than believing that each member of an external group is responsible for their decisions alone (myth of individualism), separating them from a collective (one bad apple), the consensus is generally geared opposite. For example, the belief that all immigrants want to steal American jobs, when one is not an immigrant, or that feminists are actually misandrists, when one is not a feminist. What I believe we have
Individualism in today’s society is the “belief that each person is unique, special, and a ‘basic unit of nature’.” The individualism concept puts an “emphasis on individual initiative” where people act independently of others and use self-motivation to prosper. The individualists “value privacy” over community the individual thrives to move ahead in life (U S Values).
...clusion, Caitlin Tom’s essay Individuality vs. Fitting in, the American novel Little Women by Louisa Alcott, and the romantic yet empowering dramatic film Jane Eyre all exemplify the importance of a society pertaining individualism as it leads to overcoming societal barriers and stereotypes through recognition, it encourages individuals to bring about change through their unique individualism, and aids them in valuing the invoked change in relation to their individualist characteristics and traits. It is evident that individualism is very crucial for a society willing to maintain its civilization successfully. Thus, individualistic traits are the fuel which drive a society to its development and initiation through evolution. As a reminder, Individuals should use their unique individualistic traits and characteristics in order to help improve society as a whole.
“Individualistic cultures, in the western-hemisphere, [such as the United States,] emphasize… personal identity and self-determination. Conformity is far less pervasive in individualistic societies because democratic choices and laissez-faire viewpoints are somewhat considered.”
But in this debate, one question still raises its head - What is happiness? Happiness is not actually leading a luxurious life, but the luxury of living a life. Happiness is not actually about expanding your business, but it lies in expanding the horizons of life. Happiness is not having a meal in the most famous restaurant, but having it with your most beloved family. It does not lie in attending honorable parties, but to attend a party with honor.
Civilizations are typically broken up into two categories: collectivist. Individualist cultures, like those of the United States and Western Europe, highlight personal accomplishment regardless of the expense of team goals, causing a powerful awareness of competition. Collectivist cultures, including these of China, Korea, and Asia, emphasize work and family team aims above desires or individual needs.
Transcendentalism is a movement that was brought to the global horizon in the nineteenth century through prominent leaders such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. The adoption of this movement took a great role in New England, touching upon a variety of categories including, religion, philosophy, and literature. The need for this movement came about as a response to the world’s rapidly changing society. Many were in search of a source to redefine man and wanted an element that would bring about greater self-sufficiency and a more naturalistic view of life. As many started to take on the role that was associated with the adoption of a transcendentalist lifestyle, the far most pivotal element of the Transcendentalism movement arose: Individualism.
On chapter 4 on the textbook, the author explains, “culture provides a member of a society with a common bond, a sense that we see certain facets of society in similar ways. We are living together at all depends on the fact that members of a society share a certain amount of cultural knowledge (Ch4, 132). Individualism and collectivism contribute greatly to the dimension of culture. For example, how many members of the culture define themselves apart from their group memberships. In individualist cultures, people are expected to develop and display their individual personalities and to choose their own affiliations. In collectivist cultures, people are defined and act mostly as a member of a long-term group, such as the family, a religious group, an age cohort, a town, or a profession, among others. This dimension was found to move towards the individualist end of the spectrum with increasing