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American melting pot myth
How conformity helps the success of a society
The implications of conformity on society and the individual
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“We but half express ourselves, and are ashamed of that divine idea which each of us represents,”. Great ideas are silenced because of the fear of rejection. When individuals express their thoughts, a society grows. self reliance is important because it gives confidence. Society is too concerned with other peoples reaction to an idea or thought. The world looks down on innovative and beneficial ideas. Great ideas are silenced because of the fear of rejection. Rejection is the key to making something better. Once an individual is knocked down by rejection, it gives them the passion to do something better. In the quote that Emerson stated, he is explaining that people do not express their opinion, because they are afraid to fail. Borderline personality disorder is most common in the young adult age group. This disorder causes individuals to seek approval for everything that they do in life.When people are younger, they seek approval from older individuals. Fear can also play a part in silencing of ideas. Approval is what builds our drive, to be better in life. When approval does not …show more content…
Conformity is when a person changes their personal belief and ideas to be like everyone else. Emerson believs that the world does not want diversity among a group of people. When conformity happens, the society does not experience growth. The world that we live on, looks down upon growth. When conformity happens, parroting occurs. Parroting is when a community repeats the same actions over and over again. Parroting causes the world to stay stuck in the pattern. If everyone was the same we would not have different religions, beliefs, and ideas. The United States is commonly known as the melting pot. It is called the melting pot because the country is made up of different groups of people. These different groups of people, make the world. Conformity is the death of a society and when there is diversity conformity does not
People with Borderline Personality Disorder tend to view the world as simple as possible. People who view the world like this, confuse the actions of others. (Hoermann et al, 2005) Recurrent thoughts about their relationships with others, lead them to experience extreme emotional reactions, great agony which they have a hard time controlling, which would result in engaging in self-destructive behaviors. Diagnosing a patient with this disorder can be challenging which is why is it is labeled as one of the difficult ones to diagnose. (Hoermann et al, 2005)
Key Ideas and Details (a) What terms does Emerson use to describe society? (b) Interpret: According to Emerson, what is society’s main purpose? (c) Draw Conclusions: In what ways does Emerson believe people should be affected by the way others perceive them? a: He describes it in a conformist tone describing how they strive for consistency and are therefore cowards in their unwillingness to expand to new and unique ideas and ways of thinking.
One of the primary issues that Emerson tried to convey was that one must follow what they believe is true for themselves and not listen to what other people think. He states, “It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps perfect sweetness the independence of solitude(Emerson 151).” One of the definitions of the word “world” is “human society.” The word “opinion” means “a view, judgment, or appraisal formed in the mind about a particular matter.” By putting these words together, Emerson is implying that the “world’s opinion” is the general point of view accepted by most of society. Emerson also uses the word, “solitude” which means, “the quality or state of being alone or remote from society.” By also using the word “solitude” in this sentence, he shows a contrast between the majority (society), and the individual. What Emerson suggests is that if one can live in a world full of people who think a certain way because they were taught to believe that way, but still hold your own ground and follow what you believe, you are a great person.
The roles of diversity and uniqueness are a crucial part of society today. Without these qualities being enforced into the American character, people won't produce thoughtful ideas that could help shape America. Both authors illustrate the evil effect of conformity in society and support how one should be self reliant, not phony, and confident in their own beliefs and ideas.
The world is divided up into numerous things: Countries, states, cities, communities, etc. However, when looking at the big scope of things, one can group the vast amount of people into a society. This society is where the majority lie in the scheme of things - in other words, the common people. Individuals do exist in this society, but they are scarce in a world of conformism. Society’s standards demands an individual to conform, and if the individual refuses they are pushed down by society.
Conformity also restricts the ideas of society to be heard, because everyone must follow the same ideology. One of the quotes from Beatty is “You must understand that our civilization is so vast that we can’t have our minorities upset and stirred”, implying that people are better off conforming to the culture so that unhappiness does not happen (Bradbury 56). In Fahrenheit 451 conformity is the motto of the culture, society is distracted with certain simple things like TV and racing cars. Clarisse explains to Montag “People don’t talk about anything. they all say the same thing and nobody says anything different from anyone else”, the culture of this society couldn’t question certain things and most of their conversations lead to the same basic ideas.
“The power which resides in him is new in nature, and none but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried” (p.369). Emerson reminds his audience to follow their instinct. He expresses his desire for each of us to trust in our own inner ability to choose what is best for us. Trust yourself! Don’t conform what society wants you to be. He reminds us that no matter what society tells us
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) affects about 4% of the general population, and at least 20% of the clinical psychiatric population. (Kernberg and Michels, 2009) In the clinical psychiatric population, about 75% of those with the disorder are women. BPD is also significantly heritable, with 42-68% of the variance associated with genetic factors, similar to that of hypertension. BPD can also develop due to environmental factors such as childhood neglect and/or trauma, insecure attachment, and exposure to marital, family, and psychiatric issues. (Gunderson, 2011)
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) hinders people’s security, makes interpersonal and interpersonal relationships difficult, worsens the person suffering from the disorder’s life and those around them, effects their affect and self-image, and generally makes a person even more unstable (Davidon et al., 2007). This disorder is a personality disorder which effects the people’s emotions, personality, and daily living including relationships with other and job stability. People with BPD may experience a variation of symptoms including but not limited to: intense contradictory emotions involving sadness, anger, and anxiety, feelings of emptiness, loneliness, and isolations (Biskin & Paris, 2012). This disorder makes it hard for the person with the disorder to maintain relationships since they have tendentious believe that people are either strictly good or bad. Also, they are sensitive to other people’s actions and words and are all over the place with their emotions so those in their life never know which side to expect. (Biskin & Paris, 2012)
Although the society that we are living in is different than the one the Emerson's essay, the idea of fitting in still exists today. Although society and our minds make us think a certain way, we should always trust our better judgment instead of just conforming
Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.” Emerson is a firm believer of maintaining self-reliance and values rather than following the crowd. He also explains that in order to be truly successful in life, a person must make decisions and trust in his or her judgment. In today’s society, teenagers are more likely to not be self-reliant because the teens feel they will be judged for having different beliefs. People today need to realize that they should not conform to be like the rest of the world, they must not depend on the judgment and criticism of others, and people must refuse to travel somewhere in order to forget their personal problems. Through Emerson’s piece, readers are able to reflect on how people in the world today must try to be independent of others and uphold their personal opinions and philosophy.
This is the main idea of Waldo’s philosophy. He thinks that a man should learn to express himself. Being yourself will help you to solve the problems of your life. We need to trust ourselves in order to improve our life, like all great men have done. Self-reliance stems from within deep in our soul which is the pillar of our personal power and self-respect. This source of all greatness, sets us free form the ego and helps us to transcend through the ideals of love, truth and justice; some people call this “the moral sense”. The soul cannot be completely defined or described but it is the only thing we can be absolutely sure of, since all other facts are temporary. Being ourselves allows us to obtain many more answers and to understand our unconscious intentions. Humans may exceed their limited ideas by realizing that God does exists and that in Him, we will find many answers if we open ourselves to Him.
Emerson wrote Self-Reliance in hopes that others will reject conformity like he has. However, one must be apathetic toward the negativity that surrounds such unorthodox behavior. Emerson makes his point evident that straying from society and embracing one’s own uniqueness is of paramount importance when following his guidelines to becoming
Individuality and conformity both play a major role in society. No matter what it may be individuals will need to choose appropriately between conforming and acting individualistically about their situation. Individuality allows individuals to freely express themselves while conformity offers safety under the protection of other conformers. Both of these aspects are beneficial to many individuals and is a key to maintaining societal order; however, it is disastrous to have too much of either side of the spectrum. Therefore, there should be a balance between individuality and conformity because having too much of either side morally and physically harms components of society, such that it pressures and forces individuals to do tasks against their will, and causes individuals to think selfishly and worry solely about themselves.
The world as a whole is becoming more diverse. There is diversity in schools and in the workplace. People should understand that diversity is what makes the world go around. If all people had the same characteristics then the world would be a very boring place. Even though all human beings are the same in some ways, we are still culturally different. Cultural diversity lets us appreciate our differences. Different cultural groups have varying beliefs, customs, values, and a wide variety of characteristics that make them special. Cultural influences make people see the world differently and cultural diversity should be appreciated.