Did you ever wonder what we fear most?

(By “we”, of course, I mean the mass of humanity. And contrary to those of us who imagine that we’re unconventional, that mass of humanity probably includes you. And me).

It’s not death we ultimately fear. Not torture. It’s not even having to binge watch your most hated politician’s speeches.

What we fear most is not being approved of. Saying or thinking or doing or being something that others find unappealing.

Most people have few strong opinions, much less convictions. If any. They are quite content to go to work every day, eat essentially what others are eating, watch TV that the people they know are watching, and fall asleep, ready to wake up and repeat the process.

We think in fairly well worn grooves. And since our thinking usually comes from people we talk to and those we hear online or on TV and whatever reading we do, we tend to go circular and get inputs from those who will reinforce what we already believe.

There’s no point in trying to be different for the sake of being different. But there’s also no point in engaging a mindless conformity, and mindless conformity is our default setting.

A life or organization or society never advances without breaking free of the usual path of ideas, and a multitude of people will seldom break free on their own. What is needed are those few individuals who can think ahead, see differing paths that can be traveled and then be unafraid to ponder those paths and talk about them with others. That’s how progress is made.