I spend a lot of time here on RJsCorner talking about being a deaf Aspie and how I have struggled to cope with those challenges in my life. Oh, the slings and arrows of outrageous misfortune! Oh, Woo is me! I talk about that a lot, but in reality I like it, it’s who I am. Some people call me brave, but I kinda think I am just playing the life cards that were dealt me. I really didn’t have much choice in that matter.
What I would absolutely detest is being one of the herd. Those who just take whatever is given them as truth. To me, those type of people are brainless robots. God gave us intellect for a reason. He doesn’t want robots who just sit around and tell him how great he is. He is not a narcissist like you-know-who who thinks he is God!
Virtual reality is quite the rage right now. Just put a brick like thing across your face and reality changes. I really don’t want to live in the virtual reality world. It reminds me too much of the movie “Soylent Green”, where the world had collapsed, but you could pretend that it didn’t via virtual reality. And then there was the movie “The Majority Report”. Being a scifi guys puts some serious risks on your worldview.😎
Who I am right now is a direct result of what I have experienced in my life. I kind of like the idea that I see the world from a pretty unique viewpoint. Would I have liked for some of my struggles to have disappeared? Sure. But, I am playing the cards dealt to me, and that makes me kind of special.
In closing out this post, my guru advice to you is to
Celebrate your life, even the hard parts, as they have made you the unique person that you are today.
RJ's Corner 
That’s good advice.
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One of the hardest things to accomplish in a society that encourages conformity is being an individual. Not being part of the herd, or tribe, can mark you as an outcast.
Frankly, RJ, isn’t that a better place to be? We are each designed to be unique. It is unnatural and counter-productive to hide who and what we are just to blend in.
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Thanks for the thoughts, Bob. As I see it, the vast majority of the dysfunction in the U.S. is because of conformity. They don’t need the facts, they just want someone to tell them what to think. The epitome of that is present day China. If you stand out from the herd there you will most likely end up in jail.
Yeah, I too, think it is very unnatural to just blend in. Especially in a democracy.
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It seems to me that most people prefer conformity, and they’ll try to obtain it. Here I’m not referring to individuality, particularly in relation to the USA as it is built on the concept of the individual being most important, but on how far an individual can differ from their peers and still be accepted. Actually, democracy is the perfect means of achieving conformity. For all the advantages democracy offers, it has one serious flaw. And that is the potential for “tyranny by the majority”.
I think the toxicity of extreme religious ideas, extreme political partisanship and racial intolerance is forming a “perfect storm” in America. I fear the it’s heading for a very rough period over the next few years. I hope I’m wrong, but I’m not going to bet on it.
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Thanks for your thoughts, Barry. Your “perfect storm” scenario is precisely how I see it as well, and it scares me. Tyranny of the majority is a major threat of a democracy. We have seen that all too frequently in American history.
The thing that bothers me the most is that I have no idea how to stop this freight train of ignorance. We should have learned lessons from Hitler and Stalin. The first thing they did was to round up the intellections, ie. those who thought for themselves. I wonder if that will happen again. All this is kinda like global warming, in that I hope I am not around to see it happen.
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But unfortunately some of us (I’m referring to autistics in particular) find in necessary to attempt “blending in” just to avoid being the target of extreme bullying, being permitted to obtain a job, to obtain and maintain autonomy. It’s not pleasant, it’s always exhausting, but it’s necessary for survival. Change is happening but far too slowly I don’t expect that I will survive long enough to see it come to fruition. I’m in my seventies.
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Another wise and thoughtful comment. Blending in is more popularly called masking now. I think I have done that for the vast majority of my life. The things I had to do to be recognized as a contributor in my corporate life seemed very contrary to my personal self. But, as you say, sometimes that is simply not enough in order to be accepted for who you are. It is encouraging to see that many of the technology corporation are actually seeking out Aspies as they are being recognized as valuable employees.
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