Conformity is the New Individualism

Has anyone else noticed that we live in a world where everyone is trying to draw attention to themselves? Even setting aside the obvious example of reality television shows (and setting aside the irony of a guy with a blog commenting on how other people crave attention), it seems obvious to me that 75% of people walking around on the street think they're movie stars or something. Everybody is wrapped up in the idea that they're unique and special and different. Possibly more than any other time in history we are self-involved, puffed up with a belief in our own "specialness", and enamoured with the idea that we're somehow deserving of other people's attention.

Every time you are in a public place and someone is talking really loudly on their cellphone and forcibly sharing their conversation with you, you are on the receiving end of this rather distressing trend. If you've ever walked down Mass Ave. on a Friday night and seen the retarded hipsters with their depressingly cookie-cutter clothing, tattoos, and hairstyles milling around outside the Middle East smoking Parliaments and completely oblivious to the fact that by trying so hard to be different they reinforce their membership in the herd, then you know what I'm talking about. And let me tell you, if you ever have the misfortune of browsing random people's profiles on MySpace, then the gravity of the situation becomes especially apparent.

An example:
I was in the grocery store the other day and I was walking down the canned vegetable aisle and I see this guy and his wife shopping. All of a sudden, the guy pulls his leg up on top of the shopping cart, straightens it out, and starts doing these ballet stretches in the middle of the aisle. He's stretching it out, bringing his head down to his knee and really feeling the burn, and all I could think was "I hope the cart starts to roll and you tear your groin you silly bastard." Why in the world would a 55 year old man do these stupid stretches in the middle of the grocery store? Because he wanted attention, of course. As I was walking toward this guy I heard a voice say, "Look at that silly arsehole." and for a split second I thought my dad was right behind me - then I realized I was talking to myself.

What is going on here? What ever happened to just being a regular person and minding your own business? Why not derive your sense of worth from your humanity and sense of morality instead of how different you can be or how many people are looking at you? Because the truth is that, no matter how unique we think we are, we're all just regular people. Sure, technically we're genetically unique....but in practical terms there is nothing unique about us. We have the same genes. We all have the same biological needs, and we're all driven by the same fundamental biological imperatives. Our psychologies operate by the same set of general principles and our brains all operate according to the same fundamental physical laws. We're all just people, and that's ok. Don't run away from it! Embrace it! It took me 30 years to realize this, but I am passing it on to you now.

I am always teaching you.