Born in Cage
Okay, let us ruminate on this thought experiment.
Go to your Facebook or Twitter or Instagram feed and post something that goes against the popular opinion of your followers slash friends and see what happens.
You’ll likely get browbeat to the point of silence, or you will simply be UNFOLLOWED.
Societal conformity and expectations have produced adults BORN IN A CAGE. According to M. W Eysenck,
“Conformity can be defined as yielding to group pressures, something which nearly all of us do some of the time.”
Examples include how we dress, the way we talk, and even our manners when eating. In a nutshell, this involves changing your behavior to “fit in” or “go along” with the people around you.
One of the most powerful social and environmental influences to which we are all subjected is MASS MEDIA.
Mass media enforces what’s in fashion. What’s trending. Who to follow. And above all what not to say. Try going the other way and I can quickly label you as WEIRD AND STRANGE.
As such, we are made to feel inadequate with ourselves. If you are a man who does not play soccer or watch some sports action like me, there must be something wrong with you.
Women are affected even more so than men. The entertainment industry continues to push the ideal and feminine woman as being thin and buxom. Let’s not forget that women must also be athletic and physically powerful.
We are Born in a Cage in which we are conditioned to accept only the methods our teachers define to be correct. This has resulted in adults who adapt to whatever is said by society without questioning. Questioning the prevailing dogmas only results in one’s ostracism.
Human beings have been turned into throngs of products suitable to bend according to the needs of those in power. Our society uses the strategy of rote learning to prevent free-thinking. We are not only encouraged but also rewarded for adjusting to THIS morbid lifestyle.
We have lost the power to imagine a possibility beyond what has been decided for us. We are only living to perpetuate a system built on the “tried and tested” normal. One of the factors that makes normality so appealing to us is that to be ordinary is the most effortless way of life. Like most other biological animals, human beings too are inclined to choose the path of least obstructions. That is why we do things most people do and adapt to the mentality of the herd. The inborn tendency of human beings is to obey.
However, the positive side of conformity is that societies can achieve social solidarity without much resistance. But just because accordance to some extent has helped develop communities in the past does not ascertain that it is thoroughly a supplement to our lives.
All over history societies have condemned many people who have helped civilizations and cultures to move forward for being different. When traditions become sick, contaminated with corruption normality begins to apprehend, restrain and detain evolution.
Adapting to a mad world induces a lot of depression, anxiety, and increased stress. So what should we do as a society to help each other break free from the cages we have born ourselves into?
Free thinking!
Free thinking should start in our homes by accepting that opinions differ. With free thinking comes new ideas and solutions to our lifestyles. Schools should emphasize the importance of deep understanding over the recalling of facts. Students who learn with meaningful learning can problem-solve better than those who learn by rote.
Above everything else, individual autonomy should be enforced all over.
Why? It is best to allow people to have autonomy over their own lives. Allowing individual self-determination and the ability to decide what they want out of their life and how they want to live their life is critical for experiencing overall positive well-being.
With that,
BOOM!
We are no longer Born in a Cage!
Depression and anxiety are goners.
Our day-to-day lives should be a REFLECTION of breaking the cycle of being born in a cage.
Lastly, in Ralph Waldo Emerson’s words,
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”
