Why are people so afraid to be different or have a mind of their own? (person, college)

[2pac0900]

Ive noticed at school (high school and college) most people copy off each other,wear the same name brands,listen to the same music, I dress totally in my own style and have a very different taste in music. Most people have the same hobbies and have the same religion, or politics. Why does it seem like most people just follow the crowd? It is like people are clones from each other.

[ThreeSides]

Originally Posted by 2pac0900

Ive noticed at school (high school and college) most people copy off each other,wear the same name brands,listen to the same music, I dress totally in my own style and have a very different taste in music. Most people have the same hobbies and have the same religion, or politics. Why does it seem like most people just follow the crowd? It is like people are clones from each other.

There's comfort in numbers. Most people need to be validated. It's the sheeple mentality.

[Royalite]

They're still growing up, trying to find themselves and around that age it's done by fitting in or trying to.

[Larkspur123]

Originally Posted by 2pac0900

Ive noticed at school (high school and college) most people copy off each other,wear the same name brands,listen to the same music, I dress totally in my own style and have a very different taste in music. Most people have the same hobbies and have the same religion, or politics. Why does it seem like most people just follow the crowd? It is like people are clones from each other.

Have you taken time to get to know these people to see if they have more dimensions to them than what you are assuming.

For some, dress isn't that big of a deal to the extent that they will create their own style.

In high school and college I'd guess those who are religious practice the religion their parents did, and perhaps one religion predominates where you live. The same might be said for politics.

[cloven]

Answer lies in some combination of factors incl. safety of the herd & why reinvent the wheel.
Needing to belong to a group larger than one's individual self in one way or another,
which isn't always a bad thing (nor is it always a good thing)-
as seen in the physiology/behavior of any living organism.

Consistency of meaning, to some degree, allows any two people to communicate & be mutually understood.
Same can be said for non-verbal communications (visual, auditory, etc.) and what they signal-
of course, if one wants *not* to be understood, then it makes sense to scramble the message, be unpredictable.
Our language makes our culture, our culture makes our language, and there are upsides & downsides to fitting in vs. standing out.

[CSD610]

Originally Posted by 2pac0900

Ive noticed at school (high school and college) most people copy off each other,wear the same name brands,listen to the same music, I dress totally in my own style and have a very different taste in music. Most people have the same hobbies and have the same religion, or politics. Why does it seem like most people just follow the crowd? It is like people are clones from each other.

It depends on the age of the person you are dealing with at the moment. Some of us learned at a very young age not to stress over what other's think about anything we do. I am who I am and I do not have to justify who I am to any other human, like it or not.

So many are coddled to the extreme as they grow older and cannot handle the real world once they get there. Others are never coddled and cannot handle the real world once they get there and then there are those who had a good balance of coddling and discipline and can handle anything they experience throughout their lifetimes with little emotional repercussions. Those are the ones who have their own thoughts, make up their own minds about their lives and agree to disagree on many things but do not back down from their beliefs for any reason, yet they do not push them on anyone else either.

[Clintone]

Originally Posted by 2pac0900

Ive noticed at school (high school and college) most people copy off each other,wear the same name brands,listen to the same music, I dress totally in my own style and have a very different taste in music. Most people have the same hobbies and have the same religion, or politics. Why does it seem like most people just follow the crowd? It is like people are clones from each other.

Because creating conflict takes resources. Why go against the crowd if you'll fit in better if you don't?

I've long wondered why people are so against going against the crowd insofar as meaningless hobbies and entertainment based interests. It makes the most sense to have the same interests as most people.

That said...I'm equally baffled about why some people take that so far as to clone one another's religion or political stances. That's quite a weakness for some people.

[chilaili]

Because human beings can be unbelievably horrible to anyone that doesn't fit in. Just look at the case of the young woman who dressed as a goth and was beaten to death by a group of teenagers simply because they didn't like how she looked. Humans are constantly judging each other and making assumptions and reacting negatively just because we don't like what we see.

[purehuman]

That's because at high school most kids are at a stage in their lives when they don't really know who they are or what they want. Sometimes it's easier to just wear or do what the popular ones do....to fit in, and be accepted.

[animalcrazy]

That's typical of an immature mind set. Fast forward a few years into adult hood. Some of us still have that head in the herd mentality and most of us are individuals with all of the quirks and idiosyncrasies that we develop along the way good and bad.