Is individuality an overrated concept?

yes

Having the freedom to be individual is a very good thing. Choosing not to be individual does not make you a bad person.

Some people tear the arse out of it and in every aspect of their life strive to be as weird and kooky as they possibly can be in a vain attempt to appear interesting. It is so very contrived.

So it is neither underrated nor overrated imo.

i dont think its overated but then again ya cant piss and moan about the loss of societal norms such as looking out for your neighbours (or even KNOWING them) if whats being pushed is an individualist economy which unfortunetly is what we've got going on in this country at the moment

im constantly amazed that people dont make the connection between the "im alright jack" ethos of the last 15yrs and the generation of scumbags that are murdering each other on the streets every week now.

if all that matters is your own individual desires than thats what happens.

its funny i dont consider myself a conformist, indeed i have a great loathing for the PC culture thats endemic in the media which seems to me to be just another form of dogma that they can adhere to without thinking i.e "black bloke gets mugged? MUST be racism !" and the like, and i am a bit of a loner but even i'll admit theres merit to a general societal norm that profers a sense of identity to the country. even if it is just getting rat arsed in a pub every week. it certainly beasts the fractured gated community mentality where no one interacts with anyone else

Definitely a humanities discussion here.

the whole point is we're clashing ideas off eachother. If everyone thought the same then nobody would bother to change and we'd stop developing as people or even as a society.

starpool even the Borg assimilated new ideas.

AngryBadger wrote: »

It's fantastic that we live in a country where people have the RIGHT to be individuals, choose their own destiny and all that, but there are two points to remember.

1) Individuality is wasted on most people. The majority of people don't REALLY want to be individuals because being too much of an individual seperates you from the herd.

2) Oftentimes being an individual DOES mean doing the same thing as everyone else. For example if I decide to go to college, I'm making the best decision for myself (i.e. being an individual), but I'm also making a choic which is identical to the choice made my thousands of other people, and yet I'm still being an individual.

So it's difficult to know when people are truly being their own individual, or just another lemming.

part 2 reminds me of a conversation i had with a young one in the pub ages ago. she was maintaining that my clothing was conformist whereas i said "no im wearing what i want, its just that at the time it was what was considered trendy by other people". when fashion moved on i still wore what i liked but the trend of other people had moved in a different direction

sometimes you can still be individual even though it may not look like it

Mordeth wrote: »

kinda funny that a thread on individuality turns into a thread on fashion

the 21st century, it's metrosexual.

just WATCH what happens when two young ones enter a room wearing the same dress :D