1. Our society puts so much emphasis on conformity, on being "normal", that labels like eccentric and mad often get attached to people who dare to be different or refuse to be swayed by popular beliefs and norms.
2. In "The Devil's Dictionary", Ambroce Bierce defines MAD as "Affected with a high degree of intellectual independence; not conforming to standards of thought, speech and action derived by the conformants from a study of themselves; at odds with the majority; in short, unusual".
3. A bird's-eye-view of the human condition will show little arrangements of different groups of people, all neatly labelled and packaged, all dressed in group think, conforming to group codes of behaviour, etiquette and even fashion.
4. Our upbringing, religious beliefs, education, social group and peers are all engaged in a tireless effort to level us to a common denominator of behaviour, and the social effort is to make us behave like others around us and to subdue our individuality in the bargain.
5. There is a danger in this levelling process, as the herd mentality tends to reduce us to the lowest common denominator of socially acceptable behaviour, because people tend to level others down to their own level !
6. True we need to learn to accommodate and to adjust, but it is quite another thing to let such "average" norms take over our thinking and our behaviour, because we need to develop a capacity to think on our own in a unique way, instead of letting our profession or our community do all the thinking for us.
7. In the first place, you need to see through the narrow angularities of your profession, religious group or community, which will help you to set your own standards of excellence, in consonance with your innermost aspirations.
8. You could try mixing with people who are different from you, let your paradigm include other interests, try to empathise with the perspectives of other professionals, and keep in touch with the common folk.
9. It is important to be aware of our unique way of looking at life, despite the fact that one's paradigm incorporates the social paradigm of creed, cast and language, regional and national paradigm, and so on.
10. In fact, so many strands are interwoven that it could take a lifetime unravelling them.
2. In "The Devil's Dictionary", Ambroce Bierce defines MAD as "Affected with a high degree of intellectual independence; not conforming to standards of thought, speech and action derived by the conformants from a study of themselves; at odds with the majority; in short, unusual".
3. A bird's-eye-view of the human condition will show little arrangements of different groups of people, all neatly labelled and packaged, all dressed in group think, conforming to group codes of behaviour, etiquette and even fashion.
4. Our upbringing, religious beliefs, education, social group and peers are all engaged in a tireless effort to level us to a common denominator of behaviour, and the social effort is to make us behave like others around us and to subdue our individuality in the bargain.
5. There is a danger in this levelling process, as the herd mentality tends to reduce us to the lowest common denominator of socially acceptable behaviour, because people tend to level others down to their own level !
6. True we need to learn to accommodate and to adjust, but it is quite another thing to let such "average" norms take over our thinking and our behaviour, because we need to develop a capacity to think on our own in a unique way, instead of letting our profession or our community do all the thinking for us.
7. In the first place, you need to see through the narrow angularities of your profession, religious group or community, which will help you to set your own standards of excellence, in consonance with your innermost aspirations.
8. You could try mixing with people who are different from you, let your paradigm include other interests, try to empathise with the perspectives of other professionals, and keep in touch with the common folk.
9. It is important to be aware of our unique way of looking at life, despite the fact that one's paradigm incorporates the social paradigm of creed, cast and language, regional and national paradigm, and so on.
10. In fact, so many strands are interwoven that it could take a lifetime unravelling them.