Conformity

Posted on July 23, 2004
Filed Under Journal, Society, Spirituality, Consciousness |

Most of us, at some point in our lives give in to peer pressure, this can come in many forms; smoking, drinking, music taste, favorite football team etc. In itself more often than not, this seems to lead to nothing more serious than “going along with friends.” Therefore the perhaps more surprising aspects of this, are the levels to which “peer pressure” reaches.

The essential basis of the concept of peer pressure is conformity; whereby one individual complies with a standard, concept or ideal set by another. Aside from the issues mentioned above; conformity extends into every aspect of our lives, a number of examples can easily be illustrated.

Money – we believe – forms an underlying principle of our existence, our ability to earn and spend it are often primary concerns. From this, has arisen the certainty of belief in the methods which must be employed in order to become a part of this process. The conformity here then; is not in the fact that we go to work every day, rather the basis of this conformity can be found within the belief system that has been erected around this process of work. Under this belief system we believe that our jobs are necessary – and even in many cases we convince ourselves that the most mundane of jobs are enjoyable. Those that choose not to be a part of this system are perceived by those within the system as being some form of “underclass”.

Another example would be “public opinion”. Here, an opinion expressed though the media or via the government, is said to be the majority opinion of the public. Often there will be a counterpoint to this opinion – which again is introduced by the media or government. These two points are then adopted by us. Usually, we will then choose the side of the presented argument that best suits our world outlook. However, if an individual makes a case that falls outside of the issue as it has already been presented, it will most often be either berated or remain unacknowledged.

Thus within these examples we find extreme pressure for conformity. The result of both these examples shows that individuals can adopt as their own a belief or perception that has been presented to them. What this means is that the individual conforms to one of a number of pre-determined actions or beliefs. This same principle applies to nearly every level and area of society.

This brings us to a most important aspect. It seems not without reason that this process of conformity results in an individual adopting a perception of the world based on a purely physical nature. This perception – or aspect of life – is here termed as Physicality.

Conformity leads the mind to stagnation. Evolution of thought and being can only come with progression along new avenues. By definition, conformity does not tread new ground. An important realisation at this point being; our belief in a purely physical perception – which results from ideological indoctrination - ultimately traps us into physicality, rather than freeing us into reality.

Evolution of thought and being should not be seen as “escaping” conformity, but rather as transcending it. When we are shut off from reality – by being trapped within physicality, we are unable to perceive any other layers of reality. These other layers of reality are clearly discernable to a mind unimpeded by indoctrinated thought patterns.

It is not without reason that the aspect of physicality requires a perception based purely on our five physical senses. Without correct interpretation, these five senses are easily manipulated thus leading to controlled perspectives. To clarify; when trapped within a world of physicality, the mind is not using its full capacity to process what it receives from the five physical senses. This leads to a perception that is easily manipulated by the systems of ideology and indoctrination which in actuality only feed the five senses.

In truth we posses more than five senses; a sixth being thought, a seventh being emotion…there are many others. However these additional senses – which we can easily confirm as being real – do not exist purely in physicality. They are partially based within other areas of reality, and by using these senses we can begin to perceive those other layers. These additional senses are required in order to fully comprehend what our five physical senses are showing us.

When the mind is able to perceive areas of reality other than physicality, a substantial transformation of perception occurs. The trap of conformity aims to dissuade us from seeing that we inhabit a multi-layered existence. Without using thought for example, we cannot correctly process information, instead we merely assimilate it. It therefore becomes impossible for an individual to evolve along a natural path. Instead we remain within a materialistic world, with materialistic beliefs, aiming for materialistic goals.

The path to transcending physicality is easily discernable; all that is required is an analysis of thought. We each must question ourselves; where do our beliefs originate from? To what extent is our ideology our own? If we feel our ideology has an external source, what is it and where does it come from?

It must be stressed though, that it is of utmost importance during this process to at first not follow the external trail. What is required is to examine the inner response to each and every question. Thus to begin the process of inner and original thought…ultimately leading us to using our sense of thought to comprehend our own nature, and then using this additional sense to better interpret the world around us.

Our personal development requires that we learn to see through indoctrination, conformity and thus physicality. A mind that transcends the world of conformity as it has been shown to, us is a mind open to all the possibilities of reality.

Marcus - 2004