The Eternal Dance Between Self & Society
Humans have, since the dawn of time, organized themselves in tribes. The feedback we get from the world is essential for our survival. It is not surprising that Abraham Maslow put ‘Social needs’ in the hierarchy of human needs. We often find ourselves outsourcing our sanity to the masses; formulating our goals, lifestyles, & behaviours in alignment with them. We thrive on the approval of those around us.
However, this can come at a price. Our need to belong, however innate, can often subordinate our need to express. The individual’s voice can tend to get drowned by the noise of the many. Conformity and the fear of sticking out like a sore thumb can lead people to lose touch with what makes them unique. The anticipation of social castration can be paralyzing.
It is painfully obvious to the individual at first, but they begin surrendering to it eventually. It becomes an act of acceptance as they become more like everyone else and less like themselves. It is a gradual process, a slow death. Subjectivity takes a beating as objectivity takes over. And with enough time, people forget that they’re conforming.
The habits that were unique to them become a thing of the past, the values and opinions that they proudly voiced start to wither away. The person they used to be is no longer even a memory, it’s just a forgotten identity. The self gets masked by the false portrayal of a persona, being meshed in a herd to feel like they belong.
Being camouflaged in the herd feels safe, though. To do & say what everyone is doing and saying is an evolutionary game that almost everyone plays. Anything else instinctively feels like a massive risk, and justifiably so. Our integration in the world feels imperative for our well-being.
This begs a few vital questions. How does an individual sustain their identity among the masses? How do they fend for themselves and stay in touch with what makes them unique? How does one strike the right balance between self & society?
About the author,
Vibhor Dubey
An ardent lover of deep conversations. Often uses abstraction to distract himself from the vicissitudes of reality
