These are all really interesting insights about the nature of how culture impacts us but I think there’s an aspect of it that rarely gets explored.
The phrase “Think for yourself” is inherently contradictory. By definition, if someone else tells you to think for yourself, you’re doing what other people think you should do.
As a result, it reinforces the very thing it’s trying to get you not to do. You can also create a culture of belief in anti-establishment or “rejecting dominant structures” can become a dominant culture in and of itself. Which creates the problem where you end up realizing this and destroy your own ideas.
I think this is in part what we’re seeing. Halloween is intended to be subversive by dressing up as the thing you’re not so you can go back to your normal life refreshed. At least that’s my view.
The massive pressure to conform to grouping is so weighty. Especially for young people. I recall feeling myself to be agonizingly an outsider in high school. I'm still an outsider at 82 but cherish the freedom to build my own thoughts and personality. You brought up an important perspective, Dr. Nall.
These are all really interesting insights about the nature of how culture impacts us but I think there’s an aspect of it that rarely gets explored.
The phrase “Think for yourself” is inherently contradictory. By definition, if someone else tells you to think for yourself, you’re doing what other people think you should do.
As a result, it reinforces the very thing it’s trying to get you not to do. You can also create a culture of belief in anti-establishment or “rejecting dominant structures” can become a dominant culture in and of itself. Which creates the problem where you end up realizing this and destroy your own ideas.
I think this is in part what we’re seeing. Halloween is intended to be subversive by dressing up as the thing you’re not so you can go back to your normal life refreshed. At least that’s my view.
The massive pressure to conform to grouping is so weighty. Especially for young people. I recall feeling myself to be agonizingly an outsider in high school. I'm still an outsider at 82 but cherish the freedom to build my own thoughts and personality. You brought up an important perspective, Dr. Nall.