Quotes About Conformity

frequently the crowd is mistaken because they are not acting on the basis of any superior information but are reacting, themselves, to the principle of social proof.

Bad social proof in this situation. Temporarily disconnect automatic pilot.

the principle of social proof. It states that one means we use to determine what is correct is to find out what other people think is correct.

Así pues, solemos seguir la corriente de aquellas personas de nuestro entorno a las que nos parecemos.

Cuando la gente actúa al unísono, no solo se ven a sí mismos como más parecidos, sino que después se evalúan unos a otros más positivamente.

pluralistic ignorance "in which each person decides that since nobody is concerned, nothing is wrong. Meanwhile, the danger may be mounting to the point where a single individual, uninfluenced by the seeming calm of others, would react.

Social scientists have determined that we accept inner responsibility for a behavior when we think we have chosen to perform it in the absence of strong outside pressures.

And once you've got a man's self-image where you want it, he should comply naturally with a whole range of your requests that are consistent with this view of himself.

Notice that all of the foot-in-the-door experts seem to be excited about the same thing: You can use small commitments to manipulate a person's self-image; you can use them to turn citizens into "public servants," prospects into "customers," prisoners into "collaborators." And once you've got a man's self-image where you want it, he should comply naturally with a whole range of your requests that are consistent with this view of himself.

we are trained from childhood to chafe, emotionally, under the saddle of obligation.

To live originally is to live authentically, to not be defined by culture or environment, to be truly oneself. We do not want to ignore culture. We live in it; but we need not be defined by it. Living originally, we are in the world but we are not of the world.

Since the war, we're the only intelligent species left in the universe, therefore we think everything in this universe has to conform to our paradigm of what makes sense. Do you have any idea how arrogant that view is and on how little of this universe we base it?

He is only fanastical that is not in fashion.

When they are at Rome, they do there as they see done.

Conforming to social norms, you will listen more to others than to your own voice.

People do not advertise their rigidity. You will only trip up against it if you try to introduce a new idea or procedure. Some in the group—the hyper-rigid—will become irritable, even panicky at the thought of any kind of change. If you press your case with logic and reason, you will tend to make them even more defensive and resistant.

Understand this: The world wants to assign you a role in life. And once you accept that role you are doomed.

When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other. —Eric Hoffer

About the only thing that constant human contact cannot facilitate is thought. The weight of society's pressure to conform, and the lack of distance from other people, can make it impossible to think clearly about what is going on around you.

Daily Law: Be brutally honest with yourself, aware of how your need to fit in can shape and warp your thinking. Does that anxiety or sense of outrage that we feel come completely from within, or is it inspired by the group?

The Laws of Human Nature, 14: Resist the Downward Pull of the Group—The Law of Conformity

Imagine a person who never develops these acting skills, whose face instantly grimaces when he dislikes what you say or cannot suppress a yawn when you fail to entertain him, who always speaks his mind, who completely goes his own way in his ideas and style, who acts the same whether he's talking to his boss or to a child, and you have imagined a person who would be shunned, ridiculed, and despised.

When you go into society, leave behind your own ideas and values, and put on the mask that is most appropriate for the group in which you find yourself.

The Black Sheep. The herd shuns the black sheep, uncertain whether or not it belongs with them. So it straggles behind, or wanders away from the herd, where it is cornered by wolves and promptly devoured. Stay with the herd—there is safety in numbers. Keep your differences in your thoughts and not in your fleece.