Individualism
Human beings have a desire to be accepted. This often results in people developing common viewpoints. Few people will stand out from the mass, and when someone does, other people will often band together against them. This is an animal, pack-like behaviour. People want to be accepted by the pack.
On the other hand, many people want to stand out from the pack and to be noticed. This is the primitive desire to be the leader of the pack. There is a dichotomy here: on the one hand to stand out involves being an individual, on the other if the individualism is in a form that is not accepted by the pack then the person is rejected. The result is that the so-called individualism is in a constrained form. In fact, what appears to be individualism is simply the expression of the ego. Adverts and the media play to this ‘individualism’. Adverts often show people being accepted as leaders, the implication being that if you buy the product, you, too, will be accepted as a leader.
I've mentioned many times previously that real learning requires humility. Before
you can learn you have to acknowledge that you don't already know, and this requires
humility. However, the kind of so-called individualism that people have is really
pride and arrogance. It is attention seeking.
Parents often point proudly to their children at a certain age and say that they
are developing their personalities. These ‘personalities’ are really the development
of the ego. The children get praise when they stand out from the crowd and are
ignored when they merge into it. As they get older they seek the same praise from
their peers as they sought from their parents. In fact, often the parents have
very little say in their children's upbringing as they have abrogated their responsibilities.
Children look to their friends for approval rather than their parents. Often the
parents are more concerned with being accepted by their children than vica-verca.
The ability to think as an individual is powerful and uncommon. Rarely does it make you friends. In order to exist in society the real individualist must learn extreme self-control and to know when to be quiet. It means developing a duel character where the outer façade does not necessarily reflect the inner thoughts. It can be a lonely existence.
