Quite a lot of people believe that in this world there are conformists, a.k.a. "mindless sheep", the people who do things because "that's what everyone does" - and, conversely, don't do something because "nobody else is doing it". People also believe that there are non-conformists, who supposedly are the opposite of the above. So far, so good.

But a lot of people make a big mistake here - they believe that non-conformists are people who are intentionally different, people who do something because others don't, and don't do something because others do. In other words, people who consciously try to be "different".

And that's not "non-conformism" at all.

Trying to be different is really the same as trying to be the same - it's living in function of others. It's having no personality, no opinions, no tastes, no self. What others do is the basis of what you do, whether you copy it or oppose it.

Many teenagers (but it's not limited to them) err in this way - one could call it their "rebel phase", but it's "rebellion" without a real cause, a real objective - they just want to shock others, to be noticed. They try to affirm their identity by opposing whatever they see around them - no matter if whatever they see is right or wrong.

A "non-conformist" - or, rather, an individualist - does, instead, what he likes, what he believes is right, what he wants. If he does something completely unique, he doesn't care; if he does something everyone else does, he doesn't care. What others do is up to them, but he chooses for himself.

For instance, I like a music genre that is completely unfashionable, that almost no friend of mine likes, that isn'e ever heard on the radio. Yet I love chocolate, which most people also love. Do I stop listening to heavy metal to "fit in"? No. Do I stop eating chocolate to be different, to "separate myself"? Nope, that would be quite stupid. :) Both are my tastes - whether others share them or not didn't, and doesn't matter at all.

Pedro Timoteo is a systems administrator and writer, living at Tercena, Portugal. He authors, among others, a philosophical blog, Way of the Mind.