Out of the box!

Hello all my readers! This blog has been waiting for some activity from my side since its creation in January. This does not mean that the contemplation had not been going on. It is there all the time. Just that it was not able to find a way out of the mind. Perhaps it was not strong enough. Well, as I looked around and learned more about the surroundings and the way the others and I interacted, the thought became more and more profound and began to irk me. So I needed to puke it out.

The matter is - 'Think Different!', the idea of breaking the prevalent norms of reasoning, the notion of radical opinion, the act of stepping out of the herd. Sounds impressive isn't it? Maybe not for some. Well, this has been the BUZZ WORD (pardon me for using such cliches but they are inevitable in some places) in the scientific and entrepreneurial circuits for quite some time now, for obvious reasons having seen many examples in the past: Galileo, Einstein, Wright brothers and the list goes on. Modern consumerist and progressive society also claims to appreciate and respect people who dare to think out of the box. If you ask me about this claim, I'll just say, "Blah blah! Whatever!". This is the claim that I would like to analyze here, not in the broad societal sense but in an environment that I currently live in.

When in a group, certain group norms are bound to be formed. People tend to develop a coherency in thinking, a resonance in likes and a correspondence in beliefs. All these are very essential for the proper functioning and continuation of a group. But, the con comes when the norms start dictating the group. People who choose to take an off the track perceptual route are in grim danger. The punishment for the offense of asynchronous thinking could be ridicule, insult or implicit psychological alienation. If your opinion doesn't approve of the others, then you are called a c****** (I hope you get the famous Hindi slang). If you have a different perception or tend to critically examine both the sides of the coin, you are nothing but a weird moron. Why so? Simple, because you have not affirmed to the popular general sentiment. Seems ridiculous to me, but it is so as it seems (Again, just a matter of perception). As the time passes, the image of you being a {the same Hindi slang} is firmly rooted in and now no matter what you say, it is despised. Even if it is, "The sky is blue." Even if you try to criticize anything, just to know the other aspect, you get nothing but opposition. As said in a liberal Hindi saying, "Maano to Bhagwaan, na maano to Patthar", everyone has the right to have an opinion (I'll go for a flexible one) and not be insulted for holding it.

A lot is said about being bold and following your will. If it is so, then be bold at the cost of being an alien, be bold at the cost of being an outcast, be bold at the cost of being a c******.

(The initial frusration and the eventual enlightenment has led me to incorporate this important thought to the so called 'obscure' psychi)