Nonconformists Are Extinct! “Nonconformists” believe that they do not conform to society in any way or form. This conclusion is false because it is not possible to not conform to society. Society controls individual's thought processes and makes them believe that if they are not following the “norm,” that they are then considered outcasts from society. Nonconformists separate themselves from conformists and society to express their own beliefs based on their own morals and opinions; however, they do conform to something one way or another. No matter who you are or what you like, everyone has a “place” in society, whether it was given or earned. These labels allow other conformists to view other individuals based on what the “social normal”
…show more content…
When individuals say that they do not follow society’s “rules” they are referring to the way that individuals act around others in different cliques. For each clique there are certain “norms” that everyone follows and if you decide not to follow the unspoken rules, consequences follow such as being considered an outcast. These “outcasts” then are shunned by society just because of their beliefs and morals. An example of this would be in Shpancer’s article when the students did a sociology experiment where an entire class was supposed to ignore two students completely who were trying to get a response from their peers and were rewarded extra credit points on the next test if they succeeded. After the experiment was conducted, the teacher asked the students what they thought the experiment was trying to conclude: “They usually guess it was designed to show the difficulties of being an outsider, a social reject. But the point is actually the opposite: to show how easy and automatic it is to conform” (Shpancer par. 2). The students associated being an outsider (a social reject) with nonconforming to society, which implies that they will do anything to conform to society to be deemed socially acceptable. In this example, no one stood up for what was right because they did not want to be excluded because, to them, being an outcast is unacceptable. In society, everyone wants to be considered “popular” or “cool” within a desired crowd no matter what their “social label”
When individuals say that they do not follow society’s “rules” they are referring to the way that individuals act around others in different cliques. For each clique there are certain “norms” that everyone follows and if you decide not to follow the unspoken rules, consequences follow such as being considered an outcast. These “outcasts” then are shunned by society just because of their beliefs and morals. An example of this would be in Shpancer’s article when the students did a sociology experiment where an entire class was supposed to ignore two students completely who were trying to get a response from their peers and were rewarded extra credit points on the next test if they succeeded. After the experiment was conducted, the teacher asked the students what they thought the experiment was trying to conclude: “They usually guess it was designed to show the difficulties of being an outsider, a social reject. But the point is actually the opposite: to show how easy and automatic it is to conform” (Shpancer par. 2). The students associated being an outsider (a social reject) with nonconforming to society, which implies that they will do anything to conform to society to be deemed socially acceptable. In this example, no one stood up for what was right because they did not want to be excluded because, to them, being an outcast is unacceptable. In society, everyone wants to be considered “popular” or “cool” within a desired crowd no matter what their “social label”