Conformism & Stoicism
(A detailed response to a quote by Colin Wilson)
What does it mean to be a conformist? Oxford Dictionaries defines the word conformist as, “a person who conforms to accepted behavior or established practices.” So what did the famous writer, Colin Wilson mean when he said, “The average man is a conformist, accepting miseries and disasters with the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain.” This quote derived from Wilson is a very popular, and well analyzed quote, so much so that scholars around the world have taken the time to try and decipher the philosopher’s words. Colin Henry Wilson was an english writer, philosopher and novelist. he also wrote widely on true crime, mysticism and the paranormal. So what did Mr. …show more content…
It should not come as a surprise to most of us that objects are innately affected by the things that around them. For example, if you were to leave a carton of ice-cream outside on the sidewalk during a hot summer day, the ice-cream would melt; this is because the ice-cream is being innately affected by the things that around it. Recently, new research has been conducted from scientists from all around the world that help support the claim that humans are essentially affected by the things that around them, much like the ice-cream. Most of us can agree with this claim, as we have seen it to be true in our own lives as well as those around us. If you were to compare two children, one that was raised in the harlems of Chicago and another from Denmark, you would see that each child is quite different from the other. Some scholars believe that this comparison comes back to the observations of one important philosopher, Socrates. Socrates is responsible for creating the theory that men (and women) are only as capable as their education. It is evident that Colin Wilson also understood this notion, if men (and women) are surrounded by things that make them feel as though they must conform and display a sense of stoicism, than that is exactly what they will do. That is why I agree with Colin Wilson, the average man is a conformist...notice how he says, “the average man”, not all men may be surrounded by the things that make them feel as though they must conform, but the average man is. Clearly, humans are deeply affected by their environment, and that it is why this idea helps to support Wilson’s
(A detailed response to a quote by Colin Wilson)
What does it mean to be a conformist? Oxford Dictionaries defines the word conformist as, “a person who conforms to accepted behavior or established practices.” So what did the famous writer, Colin Wilson mean when he said, “The average man is a conformist, accepting miseries and disasters with the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain.” This quote derived from Wilson is a very popular, and well analyzed quote, so much so that scholars around the world have taken the time to try and decipher the philosopher’s words. Colin Henry Wilson was an english writer, philosopher and novelist. he also wrote widely on true crime, mysticism and the paranormal. So what did Mr. …show more content…
It should not come as a surprise to most of us that objects are innately affected by the things that around them. For example, if you were to leave a carton of ice-cream outside on the sidewalk during a hot summer day, the ice-cream would melt; this is because the ice-cream is being innately affected by the things that around it. Recently, new research has been conducted from scientists from all around the world that help support the claim that humans are essentially affected by the things that around them, much like the ice-cream. Most of us can agree with this claim, as we have seen it to be true in our own lives as well as those around us. If you were to compare two children, one that was raised in the harlems of Chicago and another from Denmark, you would see that each child is quite different from the other. Some scholars believe that this comparison comes back to the observations of one important philosopher, Socrates. Socrates is responsible for creating the theory that men (and women) are only as capable as their education. It is evident that Colin Wilson also understood this notion, if men (and women) are surrounded by things that make them feel as though they must conform and display a sense of stoicism, than that is exactly what they will do. That is why I agree with Colin Wilson, the average man is a conformist...notice how he says, “the average man”, not all men may be surrounded by the things that make them feel as though they must conform, but the average man is. Clearly, humans are deeply affected by their environment, and that it is why this idea helps to support Wilson’s