Conforming To Society

Hey guys i was wondering what peoples thoughts are on conforming to society. Either you love it or you hate it... or just not aware of it what do you think?  
  
Is it right that we are forced to conform to what society dictates as correct forms of behaviour and actions while it stifles individualism. Or does it bring order to what would be chaos and allows the human culture to flourish striving to better ourselves and not revert back to our animal instinct.

Both. Society is the oppression of the individual, on almost every level although obviously with varying degrees of oppression. However through this oppression, order, cohesiveness and general unity are achieved, hence giving us prosperity.

Sorry friend. This is the video game room. The philosophy class is down the hall to the right. >_>
 
 
 
^_^

" Hmm i thought this was an Off Topic room :D "

I am very indivualistic. Everyone are a bunch of parasites, they don't even realise they are wasting their life and nothing good will ever happen. They will get caught up in the downward flow of life and try to get as much as possible, which isn't all that abundant. Not all of us are normal boring ppl who doesn't think for ourselves.

" Hey guys i was wondering what peoples thoughts are on conforming to society. Either you love it or you hate it... or just not aware of it what do you think?    Is it right that we are forced to conform to what society dictates as correct forms of behaviour and actions while it stifles individualism. Or does it bring order to what would be chaos and allows the human culture to flourish striving to better ourselves and not revert back to our animal instinct. "

@DCFGS3

" Both. Society is the oppression of the individual, on almost every level although obviously with varying degrees of oppression. However through this oppression, order, cohesiveness and general unity are achieved, hence giving us prosperity. "

"

I am very indivualistic. Everyone are a bunch of parasites, they don't even realise they are wasting their life and nothing good will ever happen. They will get caught up in the downward flow of life and try to get as much as possible, which isn't all that abundant. Not all of us are normal boring ppl who doesn't think for ourselves.

"

It's all about balance, really. Conforming to what society dictates can be very detrimental for some depending on the situation. But you do want to have a certain amount of free speech and freedom attached to what you do and how you do it. But if you step too far down that line, society will drop a giant ass hammer on yo' ass. So it's just striking that balance between what they ask and what you want to do: too much of either is damaging.

The high school emo convention is this way. -->

I hate it, but I'm too lazy to type because I just pulled an all-nighter. I think you guys got this. 

 I get tired of people so enamored with their individualism that they have to annoy me when I'm at work.  Be as crazy as you want, at home.  When you approach me, dial that crazy down, or I'm going to cut you off.
 
Conformity isn't about the omnipresent THEM trying to destroy you, it's the simple fact you learn as an adult that no one really gives a shit about what you think.  As a teenager, your opinion is the most wonderful thing in the world.  You can have a big individualism parade, we can all be individuals, and sing for he's a jolly good individual, and it ain't going to make any difference.

OP, you're lucky you have the choice to 'rebel' against society. If you lived in the middle east, you would simply fucked. Much respect to the few and far between free thinkers over there.

More counter culture bullshit. I'm guessing OP loves Rage Against The Machine and Fight Club.

I'm such a non-conformist i'm not gonna conform with this thread.

Both extremes are negative. Conformists are idiots and non-conformists are stubborn. Why not just conform when it's appropriate?

meh

" meh "

It's called "Growing up"

The whole idea of "I WON'T CONFORM TO THE MAJORITY!" is Holden Caulfield, Catcher in the Rye, BULLSHIT. 
 
Everyone will make concessions in their life in one way or another.

This thread as do most discussions on this topic present a false dilemma.  Individuals require a society to live and prosper while individuals within a society can often be exploited or destroyed by the very society they depend on. What's left out of this discussion is that societies, plural, exist; there is no monist structure to society. Conventions or laws will emerge at the societal level but not allowing individuals to defect or exit from societal structures they find exploitative and integrate into new or better ones(subjective) is a recipe for disaster.   The idea of applying the societal concept to massive nation states is that there is very limited potential for persistent and iterative interaction between the individuals within these societies except by economic means. Political interaction is fuzzier as elites tend to dominate in this realm of interaction and often at the expense of the non-elite.  Ultimately the individual must conform or he/she compromises the ability to obtain social capital. However when the marginal cost of living in a particular society exceeds the marginal benefit the individual must defect to a new system.

" @masterpaperlink said:

" meh "

"

" It's called "Growing up" "

Hate it. Just fucking hate it.
 
@one_2nd said:

"Why not just conform when it's appropriate? "

I think it's a made up idea.

Embedding disabled, but here, you get the idea.

I've got nothing against people being wanting to be a bit different from society's norms, but most of the time they just start conforming to a different section of society, and I hate it when people like that claim they're being "unique". Emo's and similar people are just conforming to emo norms. They're not being unique.
 
Either way, there is a time and a place for everything, and there are times when standing out and being different are appropriate, and there are times when you should just go with the flow and do what is expected. You'll never get anywhere in life without conforming to society at least part of the time.

There's really a lot of potential concepts we could explore here.
 
Yea, counter-cultures are just that, a different society people conform to - and usually one virtually identical to mainstream society.  It's like the tea party or emo kids like MattyFTM says, they're not rebelling against or changing anything, they're just angsty and they don't know what to do about it.
 
I believe people take away too much from society and don't contribute enough.  There is too much selfishness in society as it is.  Living irresponsibly, wasting resources, pushing forward personal agendas...  The people who do this are just immature and a bane to society.
 
At the same time people should think for themselves, don't do everything you're told.  Too many people don't think for themselves and just blindly follow others (I'd say the vast majority of people do this).  I don't think there's any real solution to this particular problem, most people aren't smart enough to figure out anything for themselves anyways.

I'm so awesome society conforms to me.

I don't think about this subject deeply enough to know whether or not I conform.

Isn't a willing refusal to conform just conforming to another group -- counter-culture? So in that sense, how does one truly retain individuality and make a choice that doesn't involve conforming in one way or another? By being so completely different from either culture or counter-culture that you do something insane like going on a murderous rampage? But then you're choosing to be abnormal simply to be "different" and the actions of others are ultimately dictating what your choice is. So in that sense, it's not your own free choice...
 
Since there really is no way to avoid conformity at some point, what it all boils down to is choosing the bits and pieces of culture, counter-culture, or the absolutely bizarre, that suit your own personality.  
 
Ahh, to be a high-school student wondering about the deeper meaning of life again...

I probably do it subconsciously and I hate that. I am proud of myself when I do stray away from the crowd, but it happens so rarely I guess. But I guess that's why I'm so proud when I do stray away.

There's probably few, if any, individuals that are truly nonconformist.

" @Wraxend said:

" Hmm i thought this was an Off Topic room :D "

You're right. It is. Bones was mistaken; he's talking about General discussion. You're fine. "

" I've got nothing against people being wanting to be a bit different from society's norms, but most of the time they just start conforming to a different section of society, and I hate it when people like that claim they're being "unique". Emo's and similar people are just conforming to emo norms. They're not being unique." 

People who are anti-conformists are no better than conformists because they are still letting the actions of the many dictate their (their being for the non-conformists) actions.

"Since there really is no way to avoid conformity at some point, what it all boils down to is choosing the bits and pieces of culture, counter-culture, or the absolutely bizarre, that suit your own personality."

"So in that sense, how does one truly retain individuality and make a choice that doesn't involve conforming in one way or another? By being so completely different from either culture or counter-culture that you do something insane like going on a murderous rampage? But then you're choosing to be abnormal simply to be "different" and the actions of others are ultimately dictating what your choice is. So in that sense, it's not your own free choice... "

" Is it right that we are forced to conform to what society dictates as correct forms of behaviour and actions while it stifles individualism. Or does it bring order to what would be chaos and allows the human culture to flourish striving to better ourselves and not revert back to our animal instinct. "

Rule #1 of being nonconformist: Don't worry about being a nonconfirmist.

Ahh this reminds me of the South Park episode when Stan turns emo.
I don't follow society, religion, or laws.
I do what i think is right, even if other people disagree.

Aren't we all conformists? After all, human beings are a social species and as such people tend to follow certain groups for support. Even rebels are just people seeking a more comfortable conformity. 

" @Symphony said:

"So in that sense, how does one truly retain individuality and make a choice that doesn't involve conforming in one way or another? By being so completely different from either culture or counter-culture that you do something insane like going on a murderous rampage? But then you're choosing to be abnormal simply to be "different" and the actions of others are ultimately dictating what your choice is. So in that sense, it's not your own free choice... "

I think one retains individuality and makes a choice that doesn't involve conforming, when one is true to oneself. Not acting in relation to culture or counter-culture, but in relation to our own wishes. "

I lean toward the non-conformist side. I only conform to society when my actions limit someone else's freedom. Beyond that do my own thing, societal validation be damned.