There are in life, fundamentally, two ways in which a person may survive. There is the 'path of least resistance' and 'the road less traveled.' At the onset of one's adult life one consciencly or unconsciencly makes the decision to choose one of these paths. Let us examine the implications of this choice.
The 'path of least resistance' or 'status quo' lifestyle is one of following the trails that have been blazed by someone before. These trails are established and they have been shown to work time and again; so chances are they will continue to work just fine for whoever implements them. However this does not apply that they will always work. To the hapless poor son of a bitch who chooses the status quo answer on a question which has been reinvented I offer my condolences. This poor SOB is usually the rare exception, however.
On the other side of the coin is the lifestyle most often exemplified by those of us on SG: Individualism. This lifestyle is the one of trailblazing, throwing caution to the wind and finding the road less traveled -- sometimes even making one's own road. This lifestyle, unfortunately, is most unpopular and generally results in friction and feelings of mild discomfort most of the time. Often Individualists meet with failure. However, on the less often occasion that an Individualist meets with success, success will be much more pronounced and usually more worthwhile than that of the 'status quo' person's success. In fact the paths that are traced by the Individualist are later the paths that will be followed by the masses of 'status quo' persons.
Thus we see the relationship between the exceptional individual and the normal individual. What we as Individualists must come to understand is that we actually rely on the normal person as much as they rely on us; For if all persons in the social system were trailblazers than everyone would be going in a different direction and nothing for the common good would ever get accomplished. It is necessary to the social order that most persons be 'sheep' and only a few person be 'shepherds', otherwise what the sum of humans is would no longer be social -- however we would choose to term it.
Having said that we implicitly state the bane of the 'status quo' person and the boon of the Individualist: That there are far fewer Individualists since it is the harder path to walk upon. To the young person this appears undoubtedly to the Individualists' disadvantage, but the adult knows better. The societal reward awarded to an Individual thinker -- namely currency -- will always be greater in a functional society because it is original thought that is necessary to further and sustain human life and it is precisely this form of thought that is rarest.
The 'path of least resistance' or 'status quo' lifestyle is one of following the trails that have been blazed by someone before. These trails are established and they have been shown to work time and again; so chances are they will continue to work just fine for whoever implements them. However this does not apply that they will always work. To the hapless poor son of a bitch who chooses the status quo answer on a question which has been reinvented I offer my condolences. This poor SOB is usually the rare exception, however.
On the other side of the coin is the lifestyle most often exemplified by those of us on SG: Individualism. This lifestyle is the one of trailblazing, throwing caution to the wind and finding the road less traveled -- sometimes even making one's own road. This lifestyle, unfortunately, is most unpopular and generally results in friction and feelings of mild discomfort most of the time. Often Individualists meet with failure. However, on the less often occasion that an Individualist meets with success, success will be much more pronounced and usually more worthwhile than that of the 'status quo' person's success. In fact the paths that are traced by the Individualist are later the paths that will be followed by the masses of 'status quo' persons.
Thus we see the relationship between the exceptional individual and the normal individual. What we as Individualists must come to understand is that we actually rely on the normal person as much as they rely on us; For if all persons in the social system were trailblazers than everyone would be going in a different direction and nothing for the common good would ever get accomplished. It is necessary to the social order that most persons be 'sheep' and only a few person be 'shepherds', otherwise what the sum of humans is would no longer be social -- however we would choose to term it.
Having said that we implicitly state the bane of the 'status quo' person and the boon of the Individualist: That there are far fewer Individualists since it is the harder path to walk upon. To the young person this appears undoubtedly to the Individualists' disadvantage, but the adult knows better. The societal reward awarded to an Individual thinker -- namely currency -- will always be greater in a functional society because it is original thought that is necessary to further and sustain human life and it is precisely this form of thought that is rarest.
VIEW 4 of 4 COMMENTS
jonc:
A job's a job (for now). 
Hang in there bud, you'll find what you're looking for soon. 
Hang in there bud, you'll find what you're looking for soon. 
spunkrockj:
Thank you!!! It was a solid birthday, filled with state fair-goodness, bars and yummy food.