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tom watson
04/01/11
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04/15/11
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04/08/11
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03/20/11
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04/01/11
July 05, 2012
There were, of course, nonconformists before, but the term came into official usage after the Act of Uniformity in 1662 to refer to any English subject belonging to a non-Christian religion or non-Anglican church.
Then, it appeared everyone wanted to get into the act.
Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Baptists, Quakers and those less organized were considered nonconformists at the time.
Nonconformity later included practically anyone that refused to accept the norm.
As James Thurber asked, a few hundred years later, “Why do you have to be a nonconformist like everybody else?”
Group dynamic expert Juergen Amft breaks nonconformists and conformists into aggressive and non-aggressive animal groups, so you can identify them in your workplace.
Sheep are, naturally, the herd animal that becomes uneasy when separated from the herd, and don't mind if one of their members gets eaten once in a while, as long as it is not them.
(I would say they rejoice in it.)
The wolf is an aggressive conformist that hates any sort of weakness. (Are they projecting?) They like to hunt, and kill, even their own, in a pack—seldom individually.
Beavers are nonconformist and nonaggressive. They mainly stick to themselves, like to build dams, and probably don't give a damn about wolves, who they know prefer sheep.
Tigers are highly adaptable, solitary nonconformist aggressors that prefer to do their own thing and are always on the prowl for fresh meat.
Recognize anyone?
Now just when I was smug about knowing who was what, and what they would do to whom, there is the anticonformist.
The distinction is that while nonconformists ignore what society dictates and strike out on their own, the anticonformist does things just for spite.
Maybe it's simpler to label them as two different nonconformists:
The ones that change the world and the ones that dye their hair green.
(Not that a green haired person can't change the world either.)
How does your conformist, nonconformist, anticonformist, resistant to label's mind say about all this?
Because I've run out of things.
still thinking about today...
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tgw318
03/12/11
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04/13/11
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04/10/11
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04/01/11
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Paul Geller
03/21/11
It is not so much that I necessarily want to march to the beat of a different drummer as it is that I just want to know as much as I can about as many drums as I can so I can get as much as I can from each march that I take.
"So there I was...minding my own business,and that would be none of your business, when the siren sounded, and everyone ran...I knew that would be a traffic jam, so i ran the other way....anti-conformist that I am..."
and speaking of that;non-conforming, I didn't conform to my own pattern today...I did not eat at Micky D's (it's the American way), nor get on the congested highway(like all conforming Americans) to go to the beach/fireworks/picnic/concert, instead, I cooked,cleaned,and put some neat plumbing stuff in the RV(sadly parked at home)...the full moon was a delight, I did sit out and eat some pork chops I BBQ'd (MMMMMM cumin,chili powder,salt olive oil,squeeze of lime, hickory smoke from chips)cob corn,po-tatys,zuccinis(just evoo&salt)....a coldbeer....non conformist? prolly not....anti-conformist? maybe a little...grown up yet? verrrry little....probably still made to sit at the kid's table....
you have terrific sweepstakes
Good morning, Gilbert - Quiet around here this time of day. Nobody in the Village except Floyd, the Village mutt attending to his Pee-Mail on every fire hydrant and lamp post.
I don't think I'm a conformist, but outside of that I don't know what I'd call me... I've been asked lots of times why I can't be like everybody else and I simply say I don't want to be. I don't have green hair or anything like that, I just end up doing my own thing.
Oh and RoadYacht we can drink cold beer and be skip being grown up together! Ha Ha Ha
"I don't wanna grow up..." I'm not a Toys R Us kid, but the song fits.
Is it a Colonel Booth, Salvation Army Hymn, 'Onward Christian Soldiers'? My Dad, when he was a lad played a cornet in the Sally Army band. Here's some non-conformist words to that tune:-
Like a mighty steamroller moves the Church Of God.
Brothers, we are treading where we've always trod.
Mightily divided, many factions we -
Lacking faith and lacking hope and lacking charity.
I don't care if it's some tea-towel headed Arab declaiming 'God is Great', a Pentecostal yelling 'Praise the Lord!' the Jo-jo's Witnesses on my doorstep, the terminally ill person holding my hand and asking me to pray with them. Who am I to say what is conformity?
"Sheep are, naturally, the herd animal that becomes uneasy when separated from the herd, and don't mind it if one of their members gets eaten once in a while, as long as it is not them." Let's hope that those of us in "The Colonies" don't succumb to our anxieties created by recession, terrorism, upheaval at home & overseas. 236 years later, who'd a thunk (sic), our forefathers pulled it off, humbling the greatest army & navy in the world into submission. Tolerance for the freedom to think & cultivate new ideas, and the courage to have the audacity to dare to be different, hopefully we will never forget little things that are always so very important.
Bert~ Conformist sheep do not herd, they flock.
What great things said this am, I happen to agree with all of you. I think that rules and regulations are good but like me, sometimes or all the time we have to stretch beyond conformity due to our own beating drum(so to speak). Hope I make sense, in a hurry off to work. Be brave people of the village, we all are perfect just the way we are.
HAZE.........................you beeeeeeeeees (sic/sarc) very funny this am...................
Very true Magicangel...I've heard it said about me...there goes Carol, in her own little world.
It was a close call… just how close is hard to say.
With the temps in the mid-nineties and the RH at 88%, the border collie running along side his master's bike, collapsed in front of our house.
It took awhile to get the hot water out of the garden hose and I started the car to get it cooled down.
After a few minutes of a cool water shower the dog revived. In a few more, it stood but wobbled.
The cyclist said: "We'll take it easy."
"Well… no," I said.
He was reluctant to accept a ride home but his collapsible bike fit in the way back, the dog stretched out on a blanket on the back seat and he in the front seat said: "You don't know where I live."
"No but I bet you do."
He headed straight into his house leaving me to tell his (bit of a looker) wife what had happened.
"I don't know if the heat got to him too but he didn't seem to get it."
"It's not that," with her hand in the middle of my chest, "he's with the university," she said as though it would explain everything.
It more or less did.
As mentioned, it has always made me smile to see the high school kids who want to be nonconformists by wearing black, having black lipstick and nail polish, dying their hair black, getting henna designs all over their hands or tattoos on the legs, putting on the studded dog collars and heavy leather jewelry, sporting the long black trench coats, and then hanging out together to create a little gang of "Goths" who are in themselves so conformist!
Or the preppy kids with their name brand Bass weejuns, Polo shirts, khaki slacks or skirts, and the exact same hair styles, mostly blonde or blonde streaked....all thinking they are "different."
For me, I have some clothes that are over 40 years old, some new things, some of every color, and every style except no minis, no heels, and no attention to what is this season's "IN" item. I just get up and wear what I want to put on that day....without any thought to conforming or not.
(Example, on a cruise, they tell you to "dress up" for the Captain's Dinner, but I am prone to wear a simple thing with a shiny top, e.g., to dress down as much as possible to just get by the dress code.) Yes, to wear clothes is a conformity of its own! But you just try going without and see what kind of ruckus it causes!
You want people to conform in order to have good manners, proper behavior, and vote for the best thing for the society, but....then you have another group whose conformity to different values causes them to group and vote by a totally different set of beliefs.....What to do?
Choosing always to walk a different path, the square peg being pushed by seemingly well intentioned groups into that "proper" slot, there are a large group of us. Outwardly, the shell one sees appears to conform to what their pre-conceived notion is. So the non-conformists conforms, in a way, to others of their ilk and with outward appearances to their environment.
Certainly when I met my husband -- a little more conservative......"conforming"......than I, I felt a sense of comfort, a sense of home. Yet even our parents often didnt understand us and chose to believe, as many others do, rejection of much of what we were supposed to value.
Mooseloop, I thought bass weejuns went out of business 20 years ago! I want some!!
Carolbabock ~
Knock yourself out….
https://bassshoes.harborghb.com/bass-weejuns-collection
I was sitting in the waiting room at the doctor's office. Two other women were there and having a very extended conversation about shoes. The correct ones, the loser ones but most of all what you can tell instantly about people from their shoes. They never so much as glanced in my direction.
The nurse called my name and I turned to them and said "Well I kind of hate to walk across the room now" and one of them said "Oh no, you're wearing Weejuns and they are always correct."
Anyway CAROLBABCOCK, Bass Weejuns are always available.
Jalopkin ~
The Death's Door Gin from Washington Island in Door County, Wi., was wildly popular on the fourth in G &Ts with person who do not usually enjoy gin.
It is smoo-hooth and markedly less botanical or junipery.
Too damned hot out to enjoy the screened porch or deck, it was a useful lubricant for fifteen holiday guests trapped indoors with a mountain of summer food.
http://www.petermanseye.com/photos/603421
Everyone is everything at one time or another and to some degree. Labels are a good way to contrast but a difficult way to compare. There are times that I would not know myself if I were able to go quantum I am convinced. The intrepid Villager might be more a multiformist always concealing a dagger or a derringer or a card up the sleeve.
Couldn't say it better, Lotlot.
So you've really met the "absent minded professor, Stoney. Here's a well deserved "thank you" for your kindness that I'm sure the dog appreciated so I'll "woof" for him/her.
I know what you mean, Andy. My mom--who was a wonderful mom most of the time--was always trying to get this octagonal peg into anything related to a normal hole. It was my father who seemed to understand most of the time.
A lovely display of fireworks on the 4th!!
Lightening and Thunder to beat the band!!AND
40 delicious minutes of rain. God IS Good!
OMG Stoney!! They come in red leather!!!
I'm thinking that the anti-conformists that I know are the most boring people of my acquaintance because they appear to be against conformity simply to 'show' the world how extremely cool they are. Boring.
However, this is not a boring discussion - and thanks to all you erudite contributors for that!
Tall poppy syndrome is everywhere, just ask anyone who was ever bullied. I learned that A) everyone is weird, it is just how well they hide it that determines the amount of flak they get and B) There are times and places where for self preservation it is wise to stick to a group and blend in, safety in numbers and C) There are times and places where you can safely let your freak flag fly. We humans are highly adaptable, the need for this isn't going away any time soon.
STONEY, I like (what I infer of) your life -- the way you've shaped it, how it moves, the people you collect. Your melody is your own, yet you don't reject, out of hand, music made by others.
I am not atall surprised by your tale today, and know there will be more. In a sense your actions made you a non-conformist; in another, a conformist. But I prefer to think they typify the individual you are.
(I find no way to use 'anti-conformist,' relative to your experience with the dog.
Which begs another thought: Was the dog's owner a conformist (to what?), a non-conformist (how?), an anti-conformist (against/in favor of what/whom?).
The dog was doing his job, apparently, so unless he had mental reservations, we can't infer any -ist about him. The wife is an interesting case, shaped by her husband's oddities -- and perhaps the heat. If that heat is three digits, as it is here, the man is foolish to be riding his bike, more even to have his dog trotting at his owner's pace, with no choice in the matter.
What shines is your act, typical of you. And it's too hot for me to take that further.
When I was a senior in college, some foolish professors nominated me for some kind of "who's who" list, which got me a featured page in the yearbook. When it came out, there were at least six students who had used the Emerson quotes about "marching to the beat of your own drum," and "a foolish consistency" being the hobgoblin of little minds.
My contribution was to not shave and wear jeans, jump boots, and an olive BDU t-shirt over long-sleeve thermal underwear. (It was spring in North Carolina.) My quote was a bit of dialogue from (Oliver Stone's) Conan the Barbarian, concerning what is best in life. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PQ6335puOc
I vote for ethelroseseapansieirisroseseaislandladyII.
Not quite certain how to answer today's question. I have yet to figure out how my mind gets me today the thins I say. Something to do with neurons and abundant wine, I would venture.
With auto-correct as my muse, how can I go wrong? Arm twist me to conformity and that's what you get. Bawahaaaahahaha.
Life is a series of decisions to 'conform.' We conform when we agree to something as simple as eat together.....a family meal is conformity, rather than everyone walking around and eating whatever they choose. We conform when we agree that courts and judges and juries will make decisions rather than firing off our own gun to settle matters, and we conform when we drive the speed limit, whisper in libraries and churches. Conformity makes civilization possible. As others have mentioned...too often there is conformity in the desire to non-conforming! Stoney--"he's with the university" frequently explains a lot of behaviours in my town, as well.
The sad part is I wanted to go off topic…..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gtcouz1dDo
At least I know that Miss PurpleHaze, MissChiefDeborah and ElitheRoadYacht
will appreciate this.
andIF you put a shiny penny in each weejun penny slot, they will keep the flies off your feet.
paolos ~ you are in naughty mode today!
There is a reason they all moved away from me on the Group W bench.
Best quote ever ~ Did you ever get the feeling that the world was a tuxedo and you were a pair of brown shoes?
My buddy George Gobel said that and they're still laughing.
Lonesome George. My folks just laughed and laughed at George Gobel. Me, I didn't get him - I probably would now - but oh they loved the guy. What was that instrument that he played?
Paolos...always put nickles in my penny loafers so I would have a dime to call home. We have a red Telly box next to city halibut sadly no more payphones anywhere. Yes the nickles went up to dimes and then quarters...it's really hard to get quarters in or out.
Can't think why you need to keep flies off your shoes...unless you stepped in it...
Talk about spell check!!! Makes the story even better!
Another animal rescue story from my part of Wisconsin. My husband went out to stick some flags into the front yard, and from somewhere, suddenly, he was looking at a kitten who was standing on his boat shoe rubbing it's head on his leg...so he walked up the drive, and the kitten followed, and he thought, I have to give it some water at least, and he led the kitten to a water bowl we have in the garden for short legged animals - but she didn't drink, instead she followed him into the garage and to the door that led inside. And he took water outside in one of our cat's dishes and a little hard food, and she drank that water almost to the bottom, the poor baby....she wasn't more than 5 weeks old...and here we are, it's July 4th and nothing's open, and we already have a cat who would not like a friend, she's spoiled, but what to do with little kitten, who my husband named "Underfoot" because when he went out into the garage to check on her, she wound herself around his ankles, tripping him ... but we couldn't keep her, it was a holiday, but I called a vet who called a shelter not too far away, a NO KILL shelter, and we put Underfoot into our cat's NEW cat carrier with a toy, more water, and she purrrrrred, purrrrrred it broke my heart, and my husband's as well, he is a softie...............The shelter was happy to have her, said she looked healthy, they'd take care of her until she was adopted, we gave them the carrier and some money since that's the thing to do, and the best kind of donation I can think of...and I called today and the girl said that Underfoot slept for a long long time, and now she's up and playing and that from all appearances, she's going to grow up to be one very healthy and happy cat, with a family that will love her and take care of her - and that while her life didn't begin very well, it looks like the story will have a really happy ending for little Underfoot. Gee was cute. How can somebody let a kitten out, ever, but in this weather, 103 degrees? But it's okay, and everybody, please remember how important it is to NEUTER your animals. It's just cruel not to.... So stoney, between your dog and our kitten, we did good, I think. I'm glad we were in the right place at the right time.
Miss Park ~
A guitar and a didgeridoo, to listen is to learn
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrr9kHQwmcw
STONEY: It's more like, Lite Moon, than Bath Tob Gin .......
But, a spritely, pleasing Flavor !!!!!!!
Miss carolbabcock ~ One of the tricks to keep flies out of a building in
the summertime is to fill a baggie with water, drop a shiny penny in
and tape the sealed baggie to the door. It works because the flies
think the penny is a goldfish and they fly the other way. Don't ask why I
presume to know what a fly thinks. Ask me no questions and I will tell you know flies.
Paolos, I do declare....either the heat has gotten to your brain or you found a secret cache of moonshine somewhere! But, I do enjoy your silly sallies...
Perhaps we should take a look at Time's 100 Greates people of all time. ALL of them were nonconformists, or maybe even a few were anti conformists, but they all changed the world. I do, however, take exception to several of the entries and would change them for a few of my own. Anyone game to try with me?
Inky Tinky, not sure that time will allow me to properly monitor your response(s), but gee feel free to jump head first into the deep end of our murky metaphorical pool. The free & open exchange of ideas is a good thing, it even stimulates the regrowth of the neurons in our old brains. Aside: There's also a list of the 100 greatest books of all time that I saw today, I'm thinking the source was the Library of Congress, and the press release openly solicited submissions of books that should have made the cut but instead were left standing alone at the altar.....
Park4...a story for you
When I lived in the Atlanta suburbs I went out the front door, as was not my usual, one day only to find FIVE kittens under my front deck!!!!! A feral female had picked that as a "secluded spot" to have her litter. Although I tried my best to trap the mother so she could be neutered it was to no avail. I took the little ones and put them in a protected room on the bottom level of my home (otherwise they would have become "doggie appetizers" for the pack), gave them food, which they really chowed down on, and water, as well as a littler box. Wonder of wonders they took to the litter box like they were born to it.
To make a long story short, after a few days of having them climb my legs (and give me cat scratch fever, the ungrateful wretches), and try to go everywnere with me....just as in your tale, I boxed them up and took them to work (I worked at the CDC). I managed to give two away to great homes (where they were neutered) and took the others to a cat shelter, where a generous donation assured they would be neutered and given good homes.
I second your comment. NEUTER your pets! Every dog that has found me (I now have five purebreds) I have had neutered. I have NEVER had to purchase one, they've all been let go...one on the side of a VERY busy four-lane outside of ATL. SHAME on people that do things of that nature.
Paolos...I have a very large wood bee that has been my front door sentry for 3 years.
For the last 2 years mud-daubers make their mud nests in my door jamb.
I don't think either one are conformists!
Stoney---I'm crushed. As a former university professor, I would NEVER mistreat an animal!!!!! The town/gown thing is just a state of mind!
Oh! My favorite saying about getting old? "Let's play in the dirt...again!"
BTW, since I log on much later than most of you....does anyone even READ what I have to say?
INKYTINKY ~ I can't speak for the others, well I can and often do although it isn't a bit credible, but I read EVERYTHING twice. Now that I know you are a Professor I will read your comments a third time just to be certain I understand. If I have a question, I will ask. If you ask a question and I have that I'M WITH STUPID look on my face, call on the guy sitting next to me. He knows everything and only has to read it once. His name is, I better not say.
INKTINKY----I live in a univerity town.....town/gown is alive and well.......in fact, flourishing!! Observe any crowd anywhere in town and I'm certain that you can easily find the 'townies' and the 'gownies.' I love the cosmopolitan feeling that one gets in a university town, but since the university so closely abuts to rich and viable farmland we also get the down to earth, no nonsense sensibilities of people who get their hands dirty while they work and don't get comfortable working conditions. (However, they really don't have to worry about tenure, either!)...................so, to answer your questio: yes, your posts are read...
I try to read most things one more time than paolos does. (I loved Lonesome George btw; I think I remember him doing that song. It is hard not to laugh at him/with him/just look at his face and his eyes are smiling (grinning) and you've got to smile back). I hope you keep close watch over your digereedoo - dijereedoo ? la la la i don't know how to spell it even after I just looked at the word, god it is so HOT. Scary hot. I think I'm going to go watch Chopped and see how the other half cook.
Inky, I'm listening and my cogitating is often the sound of silence. Keep talking. I post between Gibson Martinis myself*********** Y'know all, Emerson once said For nonconformity the world whips you with its displeasure.For instance, my skinny dipping as a kid and later a visit to a local nudist camp back in the 70's and my propensity to streak had me nonconforming in a clothes intense society. However, I discovered that humans and nature have their own, shall we say, confrontations. Ticks, chiggers, and poison ivy to name but a few and when performing many human functions some "privacy is essential". Sometimes nonconformists get lost in time warps and what was once ridiculous is now shabby chic sublime. I have tried spittin' into the wind, pissing up a rope, and marching to the beat of a different drummer. It was all good. But there are times when terra firma is just peachy keen. It's like when peanut butter and chocolate collided and the Reese's Cup was born. Vive la difference but don't throw out the baby with the bathwater. Tally Ho!
Inkytinky~ of course your posts are read. Nos da from the other side of the ocean.
Carol-but isn't our unique world wonderful!!
magicangel---oh yes--beyond a doubt!!! I never meant to imply that it wasn't.........
I conform to the expectation that every day will bring something if not, wonderful--then good and to be enjoyed!
Moosie, isn't it that some dress as you say to be different, yet they want to be validated and agreed with and a 'part of', it's sort of talkin out both sides of your mouth. I find that people want to be included and recognized but different at the same time. We can't have both. Paolos, you made me laugh out loud, your witt is great!!Thanks I needed that. Stoney-what great compassion you have, you will be rewarded. INky Tinky-I salute you for your doggie effort. Park4, I love the underfoot story, so cute:)
STONEY.......................my hat is off to you for not ripping that idiot's head clean off & rolling it out of the car as you delivered the dog to his home......................
PARK..........................I am loving the Underfoot story.................it made me smile & yet again shows that the best way to know if a man is a real man worth anything is to see how he treats animals & service people....................not surprising that your husband & STONEY glided in like buttah.............................
INKY..................................................Another saved litter! And yes, neuter, spay, neuter, spay.........................why is that so difficult for some people to comprehend.....................
It's G & T time........ahoy maties!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
DaisyI just saw Dean Spanley, thanks so much. It was right up my alley. I really loved it. THANKSwoof woof
After watching Anonymous I must ask myself again if William Shakespeare was the man or the words? In nonconformity is there the greatest sense of what it is in the end to be perfectly human?
Ideally, somebody does something interesting or screws up; I watch, listen and report back to you.
For me to get involved someone has to be A) relentlessly clueless or needy B) with nobody else in sight and D) messing with a dog, child or female… although not necessarily in that order.
Unless there's blood, then I'll just toss you a cold compress and dial 911 while staying clear of the spatter zone.
InkyTinky (and typing that does not come easy) ~
I was the one trying to give the man the benefit of the heat. It was his wife…
magicangel ~
I knew that.
D
Park4 ~
Gawd it's hot but I loved what you and the B-man did for that kitty.
The Beauty and I once called the phone number on the collar of a beautiful collie that had been hanging around here and the owner turned out to within walking distance.
Using my belt as a leash, we walked it over there and when I slipped the belt off within two feet of the guy, the dog took off in apparent terror.
I didn't grab her.