RE: @extractum-lunae - Are we really afraid of being unique?

This is a response to a post by @extractum-lunae,
Are we really afraid of being unique?

"It's the vision that influences the artist, not the other way around." -futuremind

Photography by @akiroq, Pixabay

I found this post to be very thought provoking. It influenced me in a way where I found myself asking:
"What makes me unique, and what is the basis of my defining characteristics which make me this unique hue-man being?"

I don't think this is easily answered, but I'm going to do my best with outlining some key points of the post and my associated thoughts.

Our actions are driven by this fear: to be incomprehensible to others, and therefore to be rejected, to be rejected.
But you will be covered with horror, when the truth suddenly appears before you: you spend your only life in becoming as clear as possible, predictable, and not surprising.

To me, this is a rather daunting idea, but one that I cannot disagree with in a collective sense, when conformity based thinking is easily observed throughout worldwide societal structure.

It seems (in my personal experience) that many individuals I've met seem to be searching for answers relating to self identity, uniqueness, individuality, purpose, ect.

When confronted with another human in search of answers, I do my best to help based on my unique perspective of the world, and offer "ideas" of what I think is contributing to the "disconnect" that they seem to be suffering from.

It's not easy to help others in this department, and I think it is because of the fact that we are indeed unique, and this is all the way to the perceptive level, meaning; I cannot know if the person I am explaining something to will understand, care, or believe a single word I'm saying, because after all, that person is a unique individual, with a unique perception/perspective.

Oftentimes I don't feel like I help much when offering ideas that I see as potential influencing factors, because it's not a solution, but then again, can I offer you a solution to your unique perception troubles? I can offer influence, by explaining what has helped me, as well as potential solutions, but that doesn't mean it will be solution(s) that will satisfy the distraught one.

Our actions are driven by this fear: to be incomprehensible to others.

Is it just the fear of being incomprehensible, or fear of consequence as well?
And what may I ask drives this fear, is it by design, systematic, a bigger plan? This could get interesting if we consider how we're influenced by the education system, economic system, social system, ect.
I would go as far as to say the fear that many are faced with is due to some sort of economic or social consequence that they do not want to encumber.
Fear of being incomprehensible, fear of being different, fear of being a "black sheep" drives people to lie, cheat, even steal in some circumstances, so when taking this into consideration, it becomes apparent how negative this "fear" based thinking really is. The mode of thinking in and of itself, sets the stage for negative/undesirable results.

Four years ago, I read an article somewhere about Wilson Bentley, the first photographer to take snowflake photos. The very same photographer who, in the course of his experiments, came to the conclusion that there are no two identical snowflakes.
The society immediately romanticized this idea of originality, made it cloyingly sentimental. Naturally, transferring the qualities of originality to people.
The propagated sweet truth: "We are all unique, like snowflakes."

I find this very interesting, not because of this photographers really cool discovery, but the public reaction to his discovery, and adaptation of the "uniqueness" idea that romanticized the minds of so many.

My question would have little to do with his discovery and much more to do with why there was a public reaction like this.

Call it a hint, or a clue, whatever sounds nice, but I don't see it as a coincidence. We are a social species, and it's not too far fetched to suggest that our consciousness is not even remotely what we think it is. If this idea of having a collective consciousness feels/sounds like something that is possible, then I think we would be absolutely foolish to ignore collective response/reaction to idea(s) which provoke a certain feeling, thought, fear, ect.

But in fact, people are most afraid in life of being unique, different, unusual. Everyone wants to be a copy of someone who is already there.
Stop doing that.
Translate your view from others to yourself. Look at you. Watch yourself as the protagonist of your favorite series. Do you like yourself? Do you like this character? Does it cause you delight and admiration?
So he goes to the subway, buried in the phone, killing time, just not to think about anything, just not to be alone with himself.

If it's important for the human experiencing life to find a sense of uniqueness/individuality, I would say: "Take a look at history", and I don't mean your curriculum, I mean your personal history. Ask yourself why you think the way you think.
I would start by looking at what you were taught, the times your ideas were shot down by your peers, teachers, family, ect..
Could it be that the fear of rejection is a system based program? Designed to start stripping individuals from their own unique experience at a very young age? And if so, the question is why?
I would suggest it's a program for control over the masses.

This is where I would start, and where I have started, when trying to make sense of fear based conformity thinking and how people respond to the social system we currently operate under.
I was not able to find the answers until I worked at it myself. No one could really convince me since I was questioning everything about reality, and really, the conclusions that I have come up with are my own conclusions, and could be totally wrong or only halfway right.
The experience is what matters though. Even if my truth is completely wrong, if I feel more confident, more unique, less afraid, and more positive in general, then is really a bad thing if I'm wrong? Not if I decide it isn't!

This is you. The same "unique snowflake."
Nearby, crowds of people with empty, bored eyes sit, stand, ride, also buried in their phones. They, like you, are "unique snowflakes."

Something I enjoy is "mindful walking", where I leave my phone off, and simply observe everything going on around me.
Indeed it seems like everyone is drowning in a sea of some alienistic tech that just popped up into existence over night, (in an astronomical sense.)
I watch people do mindless things while distracted, even dangerous things, and I am truly amazed at how much everyone is addicted.
The addiction to tech like smartphones can be explained in many ways as well, because it's definitely by design, and not even a secret that manipulation of perception is taking place through smart tech.

To me this is important, to not lose touch with ourselves and others, to question everything, and do not assume something is correct just because someone told you it is.

Conformity based thinking makes misinformation very easy, people become afraid to question the official narrative, because of reasons we just discussed.
This is all very convenient from a control standpoint if you think about it, and what I see to a major root to the collective problem of uniqueness.

How do you differ from them? What is your uniqueness?
Do you love more than others? Do you have the courage to talk about things that you don’t need to keep quiet about? Do you have more wisdom to keep silent about what you should not talk about?
Did you cry not from grief, but from the fullness of life?
Do you listen to your heart?
Do you allow yourself your uniqueness?

These are some great questions for a person to ask themselves in this life journey. I think it's also important to take note of why you come to specific conclusions.
like I mentioned earlier:
"What makes me unique, and what is the basis of my defining characteristics which make me this unique hue-man being?"
If I am unique because of a specific reason, why is it that I believe that reason, or associate uniqueness based on a specific defining aspect?

I think when a person can confidently define who/what they are, based on their unique perspective of themselves, and can do so without being affected by the perception of others, their true potential to be a part of the bigger whole opens. That is, the usefulness/purpose as a part of humanity becomes more aligned.

I enjoyed your post @extractum-lunae,
Thank you.

Much love,
@futuremind



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