We have those who follow the "in" ideology: people believe smiling is right, I will also smile.
We have those who have formed a smaller group slightly in opposition to the masses: people believe smiling is right, but I smile when I want.

Then we have that one person (or two) who always thinks outside the box: simply because people think smiling is good doesn't mean I must smile. In fact I hate smiling and I won't smile.

This person always finds it difficult to fit into a group of which ideas he shares fully. He rather agrees with the idea one groups shares, or the idea another groups shares. You will never find him following the masses and his ideas are so concentrated in just one person (himself) that we sometimes judge him as being radical.

Do you know anybody like this and do you think his/her controversy should be seen as a value or rather as a stubborn attitude?

I do not know anyone like that but a person that possess that character has a stubborn attitude.

SeanT21:

I do not know anyone like that but a person that possess that character has a stubborn attitude.

Why do you think so? What if s/he presents strong evidence for his position? Do you think a man alone can stand against millions?

michelin89:

We have those who follow the "in" ideology: people believe smiling is right, I will also smile.
We have those who have formed a smaller group slightly in opposition to the masses: people believe smiling is right, but I smile when I want.

Then we have that one person (or two) who always thinks outside the box: simply because people think smiling is good doesn't mean I must smile. In fact I hate smiling and I won't smile.

This person always finds it difficult to fit into a group of which ideas he shares fully. He rather agrees with the idea one groups shares, or the idea another groups shares. You will never find him following the masses and his ideas are so concentrated in just one person (himself) that we sometimes judge him as being radical.

Do you know anybody like this and do you think his/her controversy should be seen as a value or rather as a stubborn attitude?

I think I understand what you are saying but the portion in bold is throwing me off a little. In my opinion, someone who disagrees with people whose ideas he shares fully. . .  is a little not okay in the head.

That said, I don't see someone who doesn't agree for agreeing sake as stubborn (in the negative way). Apart from group ideas, we also have individual ideas. . . and the reason most people find it hard to go with their guts is because of fear of not fitting in.

michelin89:

Why do you think so? What if s/he presents strong evidence for his position? Do you think a man alone can stand against millions?

And there you have it!!

Sisi Jinx:

I think I understand what you are saying but the portion in bold is throwing me off a little. In my opinion, someone who disagrees with people whose ideas he shares fully. . .  is a little not okay in the head.

Ahahhahaha! Italian don dey kill me. What I meant is that this person is so different that he can't fit into a group because he hardly shares the same values, and I mean every value with them. A piece of him is here, then another is there. He can't find a totality which he comfortable with.

Sisi Jinx:

And there you have it!!

Well, not in my opinion. It's hard sure to fight against humanity as a whole but it isn't impossible. People do it. What I'd like to know is how you view this attitude? Do you think that a point someone should conform even without being totally in agreement just to belong or stay alone and keep on with his ideas?

michelin89:

Ahahhahaha! Italian don dey kill me. What I meant is that this person is so different that he can't fit into a group because he hardly shares the same values, and I mean every value with them. A piece of him is here, then another is there. He can't find a totality which he comfortable with.

Gotcha 

Well, not in my opinion. It's hard sure to fight against humanity as a whole but it isn't impossible. People do it. What I'd like to know is how you view this attitude? Do you think that a point someone should conform even without being totally in agreement just to belong or stay alone and keep on with his ideas?

Honestly this is how I view it - It would be so nice if we were all islands functioning separate from others but realistically, it is almost impossible. . . although with the way the world is going right now, I mean with the technology and whatnot, the almost impossible is slowly becoming a possibility but that's a topic for another day. The point is until the day comes when we don't have to make human contact to survive, we are gonna have to find a middle ground between our ideas and other people's, apart from that, all else being equal. . . how many people are willing to go the distance?

Sometime last year. . . some friends and I were talking about the atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hair. This woman believed, there is no God so the day she found out her son's school made them recite prayer every morning, she said, heck no and went to battle. . . straight to the supreme court.

She received death threats, she was stoned, her home vandalized, her children were always in danger but she never backed down.  Over a period of 30 yrs she became even more vocal about her opinions, if she was in an event where prayers are being said, she would halt it. She pushed people to be banned from saying God on TV and Radio. . . she became the most hated woman

When she disappeared no one was surprised and trying to solve her case proved almost impossible for the cops. . . It was like where do they start from? The woman pissed of the freaking nation. . . even her own son who eventually became a pastor. It would take years to finally discover her shallow grave where she had been buried after being hacked to pieces by someone who worked for her and it wasn’t for the reasons they thought. . . it was just good ol’ fashioned theft.  Some reports says she wasn’t killed immediately, so there was a chance that if the cops had an inkling how to begin the investigation, she could have been saved.

Our discussion was based on how who she was and what she stood for may have inadvertently hampered the investigation that could have saved her life. It brought up the question – How far would you go to stand for what you believe in. One of my friends said “why couldn’t she have just change school?” and honestly, I can’t deny it. . . in situations like these, it’s kinda hard not to let the sense of self preservation take over. 

So the question isn’t really if having a different idea from others is good or bad it is what are you willing to give up for it?


Call me coward but I do not think it is noble to put oneself and more importantly other people in peril just because I believe something different from society at large believes (It is my opinion, that it was no longer about standing for a cause for O’hair and more about “beating ‘em”)

I don’t think we have to go to the extremes, I think we just have to look for a comfortable zone. . . a place where we aren’t entirely betraying our own set of beliefs and we aren’t conforming either.

Lastly I don’t believe you have to make a big splash to show people you are not thinking the same way they do. I am a big subscriber to the live and let’s live principle oooh.

Fadi naka n fadi nawa,  Yi na ka, n yi nawa. . .  Say your own, I say my own. Do your own, I do my own.

By the way, I think it is so freaking cool that you speak Italian. I'd give my first born to wake up one morning speaking Italian fluently!!

Controversy could be a value if well exploited, controversy comes in various hue. Osama's controversial, so is Gani Fawehimi (SAN), P. Diddy, Madonna. . . feel free to cast ur lot wth the one that best appeal 2 u!