What is conformity?
"Conformity is the tendency to align your attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors with those around you. It's a powerful force that can take the form of overt social pressure or subtler unconscious influence. As much as we like to think of ourselves as individuals, the fact is that we're driven to fit in, and that usually means going with the flow."
- Why did Hitler have the following that he did?
- Why do we feel like we must conform as a species, even when we KNOW that what we are doing is wrong?
- Why do we have a NEED for acceptance from others?
Why these questions?
People are conforming, albeit into mainly two separate groups, and causing a great division in my country (the United States), but why?
We have bad people who support Donald Trump for bad reasons, corrupt financial reasons, and they exclaim how GREAT of a man he is and that YOU should support him because he is GREAT! HE WON! Follow HIM!
This is an example of using power to manipulate the masses. Once you start gaining conformity in your favor, its turns into a snowball effect, and more people will start conforming even when they believe it to be wrong.
The reason why the whole U.S. population will never conform to supporting Trump, although many people do, is because to an extent we have control over our decisions before the effects of conformity kicks in. We have an amazing feature inbuilt that we call morality, and it helps us determine right from wrong. If you oppose the views of something, you still have a chance to share your opinion's with someone else, and if that person shares a similar opinion as you, you two will conform on that opinion. Those two people conform with others, and again, you have a snowball effect leading to a mass conformation in opposition to the other mass conformation.
With the technology in social media we have today, we have the ability to project our voices far louder than ever before. We have the ability to create channels, groups, subgroups, etc. so that we are never alone. We are heard species, after all, and to some point we rely on conformity to survive. We need affirmation and support from others much like a train needs a railroad to navigate. If we are doing something that "goes against the grain", our brain naturally wants to say "Why?", or "Am I Wrong?". Its a deception, and when used incorrectly, it can be a powerful weapon against our fragile minds that just want acceptance from others.
Please feel free to express your views and opinions on the subject. I enjoy other's perspectives, as it help me gain insight as to WHY you think or feel the way you do, and I like brains :)