Conformity: The Basic Behaviour

The literature as well as life of Acharya Chanakya is full of inspirational messages. Today we will be discussing another interesting quote by him.

A well known fact is that we humans are sophisticated social animals and whatever we do affects one another. What most people don’t realize is that they are being influenced? These small influences when grouped together become massive.

Influencing factors:

The influencing factors include, but are not restricted to:

• Our friends and family.
• Literature we read.
• Things we watch.

Do you know that you are being bombarded with information at a conscious as well as on subconscious level? Whatever you experience in life has a potential to bring change. This change can be big/small and it can be good/bad depending on the circumstances. This not only applies to you, but is also true for the person standing next.

It started with an Idea:

The different religious, cultural, and political groups around the globe are an outcome of the domino effect brought by an individual. Someone in past thought about something good or bad and then with some effort he/she acquired the 1st follower and then the 2nd follower joined in and then came even more followers. The interesting point is that many followers joined the group simply because others were following it and it was more comfortable that way.

This has happened in past and continues to happen till date. It’s all about finding your next supporter and with sufficient numbers the group will start growing on autopilot.

What’s the point?

Well! I intend to bring forward a few things. Words might not be sufficient, but I will try:

• Have right reasons?
• How to gather men you need?

Have Right Reasons:

Yes! it is extremely important that you do anything and everything for right reasons. In reality, most of the people are too busy seeking acceptance that they stop thinking in the right direction. My experience says that it’s not a good idea to do something because everyone is doing the same. Trust me! Utilizing your brain won’t hurt.

The three supporting examples that I can think right now are listed below:

In Ponzi Investment schemes too many investors lose money at once.

Fashion freaks who are totally unaware about their real requirements and believe everything being stated in the advertisement. They are always behind because they follow fashion and not themselves.

An acceptance seeking friend being victimized by own friends is not an uncommon scene.

Gather men you need:

There exists another side as well. If you are up to something big (and hopefully good), then you can use conformity to your advantage.

At initial stage you can focus on explaining your views and Ideas to a small group of eligible candidates. Once they start agreeing, you can utilize/display that small group to influence a few more and repeat the procedure to recruit even more. The most important and most difficult part is about gathering the first few. Once you cross the initial stage, things will become easier and easier.

Summary:

• Use your brain because most of them aren’t. Follow someone or do something only when you have right reasons.
• Once a few people start agreeing, it becomes easy to convince a few more, and the cycle continues.

* The ideas stated above are applicable on many, but not on everyone.