Is there, in truth, no non-conformists any more
01/11/2004 . Source: Geoff Willmetts 

What is non-conformity? In its most simplest terms, it just means someone not relating to a common or normal way of doing things. In terms of today’s world, there should be far more elements or people that would be described as ‘non-conformist’ depending on how you classify people who’d rather not be part of ‘the system’ of what makes ‘society’ work or have a desire to change the world to their outlook.

Hello everyone

What is non-conformity? In its most simplest terms, it just means someone not relating to a common or normal way of doing things. In terms of today’s world, there should be far more elements or people that would be described as ‘non-conformist’ depending on how you classify people who’d rather not be part of ‘the system’ of what makes ‘society’ work or have a desire to change the world to their outlook. Notice the words that I dittoed as even these terms are open to a wide order of interpretation as to what they mean let alone what they apply to as we all have different definitions. Even more importantly, the differences are not as many as we would believe, if they exist at all.

To understand ‘non-conformity’ one also has to understand ‘conformity’ as well. On many levels, we all have measured degrees of how much we allow ourselves to conform to a general view of what ‘society’ requires of us to get along with everyone else, depending on our education standard or willingness to accept what everyone else does. The majority of us are law-abiding, for instance, although it's more to do with avoiding getting caught by the police. A lot of the laws do make a lot of sense if you don’t want chaos but can fall apart on minor things where it's not perceived as a crime or it can be gotten away with providing it doesn’t directly harm anyone. If anything, it tells a lot about the ‘human condition’.

Raise your hands if who’ve pilfered the odd paper-clip, pencil or pen from work and treat it as an acceptable but not akin to open burglary of a shop or bank which you might see as shocking. See. You can all put your hands down now. It’s all a matter of scale and probably reveals something of the level you commit yourself to society and what you regard as sensible laws and whether you can get away with it. The real question is whether it's a level of acceptable criminal activity or a demonstration of your commitment to conformity or non-conformity. Equally, it can also be argued that where in-office pilfering is concerned, everyone from the managers down do it, so this is really not theft or non-conformity. Confusing, isn’t it? At what level do we think what we do works against ‘society’? Maybe when we check the office supply cupboard and find it empty.

On many levels, we bow to conformity because it makes sense to do so to avoid ostracisation or imprisonment let alone getting anything done as a collective. We’d rather have people locked up for certain crimes rather than let them continue to do them. At the other end of the scale, if we all used a different way to tell the time or days of the week, we’d all be out of step with everyone else and who wants to use conversion tables to work out what’s going on all the time. As there’s a limited choice, we’d bound to feel some affinity to anyone else who used a similar system to your own. Hmmm...I think we do that still in the UK and other parts of the western world.

How many of you can visualise length and weight in imperial as opposed to metric measurement? I doubt if it would be called non-conformity, just something that makes life easier to do together. Not all our heads have adopted completely to the metric system but it doesn’t necessarily follow that it's a demonstration of non-conformity but definitely a sign that metric might be more accurate but the conversion and visualisation doesn’t visualise so well in our heads. We British find it odd that, say, the Americans see weight in terms of pounds rather than a smaller division into stones and hundred weights. Size in numbers does matter. How far do we have to travel down the line before non-conformity begins or ends?

If anything, conformity happens because it makes sense not to do otherwise as the alternatives are mostly impractical. Even deviation from the normal doesn’t make anyone stand out as something I pointed out a few editorials back. There might be a change in political leader but it rarely changes any basic conformity we all mutually agree to. Well, unless you suddenly find a dictator and an army in control imposing his version of conformity on a nation. Someone might lead from a particular direction but then it suddenly develops followers and before you know it, you’re not a non-conformist but a cult following. Whether it stays the same size or grows depends entirely on whether other people think the new system is superior to the old. It’s nothing new. We’ve been doing such things all through history. Russia has rotated back and forth over the decades depending on who’s in power.

It is a majority belief that brings it into general use in society and is recognised as being established often when it becomes questions in quizzes and crosswords as part of general knowledge. If anything exists that long then it sinks into a level of acceptable conformity even if it might be felt to be a bit quirky. I suppose as long as whatever it is doesn’t hurt children or animals, there’s a wider range for not worrying about it. Then again, if whatever has a ‘darker’ edge, then it quickly gets acknowledged and gets placed at a lower level of being regarded between non and conformity and something to be wary of.

Religious cults use this to avoid breaking the law, especially in regard to the consent of the individuals taking part. The only general consensus is whether or not those who indulge are evaluating whatever they’re involved in freely without being brainwashed. Then again, followers often want someone to think for them. If the leader is wrong or equally delusional then the problem multiplies. In such cases, it might pay to examine such leaders’ beliefs as well as see whom they have high regard or regard as heroes and see just how much they conform to what they want you believing in. Again, it’s something like the old USSR. Communism was for the masses, the leaders had a rather more rich or better lifestyle but that’s a different story.

Man as a whole has always been rather mercurial in his beliefs and what makes sense. In the last few decades, there has been a sudden acceleration in these changes largely affected by the levels of technology, travel and communication and unit population that is rapidly changing our way of thinking. I once commented that a minority belief in the UK would be lucky to run to a couple hundred but in somewhere like the USA, probably several hundred thousand if not millions which is a frightening statistic for a minority. Apply that across the Internet where the entire world is concerned and is it any wonder that we end up talking many millions. Oddly enough, the strongest communication level we all seem to accept as non-negotiable on the Net is trust. Break that and you’re in trouble with everyone. Well, at least those who don’t question why some people have to advertise their businesses through spam to get noticed.

The real question lies then as to are you making your own minds up or are just mindless followers in a herd? Are you a conformist by choice or because you haven’t consciously thought through your options. It depends a lot on what shakes your tree or what you think makes sense and that can vary depending on whether there’s a ‘D’ in the word when you spell the day of the week. Themes such as this re-occur in all fiction, including our own Science Fiction when it's taken to a grandiose scale. We applaud the heroic non-conformist to do the right thing where circumstances dictate in our fiction but would we do or see the same thing in real life?

Is the hero really a dangerous deviant non-conformist or the rest of the population doing what they think is right? Considering that fiction is really a demonstration of choices in a given situation, what it really needs is to see both ends of the stick. It would hardly be seen as making the right decision if a lot of people were killed by one individual’s actions in stopping something. The contrary argument would also say, better a few dead than an entire city. I suppose it depends on whether the consensus opinion thinks your decision was right in the end.

In the old days, it was often thought it took an ‘identity crisis’ to re-evaluate the decisions you were making about life but really its something that we need to do all the time and do something if a decision isn’t working. The action of one non-conformist that shows to be correct can quickly change others to believing this has to affect future choices they make themselves. That can be good or bad, as witnessed to giving babies a triple inoculation against childhood diseases. Belief isn’t enough. It really needs conclusive backing up evidence by those in the know rather than standing on the fence. However, this world is also grey and often seen as a two-way choice situation rather than considering that there might be other choices to consider. Something I press on the writers who provide material for this website is a useful mantra. I don’t see myself as infallible in editorial decisions I make so usually say, ‘If you think I’ve made the wrong decision, give me a considered reason why not.’ I then review what I said. It doesn’t necessarily follow that I’ll agree with you but I will go over my own decision and see if there’s a better choice. For every decision you make, there should be a level of considered thinking behind it.

Conformity. Everyone’s a conformist at some level or another. How far do you have to go before stepping outside of the box? Does rebellion have to be for everything or do we fall into the answer James Dean gave in the ‘Rebel Without A Cause’ film, ‘What have you got?’ These days, it would be, ‘What is there left to rebel against?’ In many parts of the western world, we have a somewhat cosy life compared to the third world and other low income countries let alone those controlled by oppressive political regimes. They certainly have a right to better food and living conditions but how far can we go to convince their leaders of improving it for them before we overstep the mark? With the latter, its knowledge that will change the world and the spread of it across a population can be more effective than just a few voices protesting. There are always good and bad decisions to be made over any actions that can’t be laid simply as one of two choices. Gimme a reason and I can think of a dozen more to accompany them. Can the same be said for the number of answers that are needed to make a complete answer? Nothing should ever be seen as a simple choice.

A change in conformity tends to happen if it makes sense to do so to a wide range of people across the range of society. A belief in something such as the Earth being flat fails when there is too much evidence to the contrary. A simple question of why you can’t see across the world tends to still such an argument. You’d need a lot more evidence or proof to back up an alternative theory against modern evidence. It is when it comes to metaphysical belief that diversity tends to stick. To some extent it is how you are brought up in your deity beliefs but there is so much range that you can fall into a variety of groups without creating a new one. That in itself suggests that although it started in non-conformity, this isn’t a demonstration of it just a lack of further variation. With religion, it appears the common ground is the belief of a deity’s existence and religion over how to worship it but that’s for another editorial.

Although I’m going to leave you people to consider the implication of all of this, it also says a lot about the ‘human condition’ and the desire to embrace a wide range of levels of conformity and non-conformity that makes up our lives. ‘If you can’t beat them then join them’ scenario. On many levels, we’d like to see our interest accepted by others but at the same time, we also like to have a private niche where only people with a similar passion might share. As that already exists and providing you can find it, there appears to be an outlet for aspects of your personality that you think spell ‘non-conformity’ that you can share with other people. If anything, the significant difference is how you talk about the subject rather than use it to change the world. Whether that’s a good thing or not is open for debate.

This editorial might not reveal much regarding how much of a non-conformist you are but it might give you pause for thought as to how much thought you give to the decisions you make on a daily basis. Always remember that thinking for yourself first rather than just blindly follow someone else’s lead will empower you to modify the thinking of others if you think they are making a poor decision.

Be happy. Be safe. Think before everything. Enjoy the rest of the website.

Thank you and good night

Geoff Willmetts

editor: SFCrowsnest.co.uk

SFcrowsnest e-mail: gfwillmetts@REMOVE.FOR.SPAMhotmail.com
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(Less Serious) Thought For The Month # 1: Something that’s been puzzling me about the new Punisher film is why did actor Tom Jane playing Frank Castle have his arms shaved?? Hardly macho, is it??

(Less Serious) Thought For The Month # 2: All right, so King Kong the latest film is still at least 18 months off but that should give you plenty of time to think about the following: The biggest flaw with Kong is what happened to his parents and other family members and who crowned him?

(Less Serious) Thought For The Month # 3: Should having organic female clone Cyclon spies on the new ‘Battlestar: Galactica’ TV series be thought of as sexing up the original idea?

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PPS: For those keeping track, I’m still about 20 months (January 2003) behind.

With going through the ebook samples, I have removed some who’ve gotten published elsewhere without telling me. Thank you for your patience but let me know if you’ve sold elsewhere so I can reduce my pile or if you’ve changed address, especially e-mail address. I can’t give you my comments unless either is up to date. Currently, doing spot-checks to see if you’re still there when I reach your sample in the pile is making it easier on my time and catching up on the slush pile.

This isn’t much of a repeat, just to show you’re not forgotten. Those sending in ebook samples, be prepared for a long wait and read the Guidelines elsewhere on this website. They are there to help you do some of the right things and reduce the number of times I’m repeating myself over silly grammatical errors and spelling mistakes that you shouldn’t be making. It makes editing a lot easier if any editor has less work pointing out poor English which should have been sorted out in the first place and more focused on other areas of your work.

There’s an old editorial adage, if you can’t aim for perfection why should an editor nurse-maid you to that state? If you’re a writer, then you should understand the words and grammar of the job you’re supposed to be writing or are you considering it as mundane and boring as any other job to get right? This is why writing starts off as vocational. You’ve gotta love getting things right. Fall in love with making every sentence the best you’re ever written, read up and understand the rules of grammar. Be prepared to put a story away for a few weeks and go back to it for a self-edit. A lot of the time, errors will just stare you in the face when you didn’t see them the first time round. Once you know where your weaknesses are, they can be sorted and allow you to move a little higher up the ladder towards making your material look its best.

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