The Ultimate Individualist*

I was just reading Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Wow. Emerson believes that a person should define his place in society by what that person believes in, wants, and feels. He rejects what I call social correction, when society tries to restrict someone by rejecting them if they do something unexpected. In Emerson's words, "for nonconformity the world whips you with its displeasure." Emerson also takes this policy to surprising extremes. For instance, he is very critical of what he calls

"'the foolish face of praise,' the forced smile which we put on in company where we do not feel at ease to answer to conversation that does interest us."

Emerson is talking about acting interested, or at least not overly bored, when talking with someone about a subject we don't care about. To most people, this is simply polite - we don't want to seem rude or abrasive by just disregarding someone else's interests. Emerson, however, feels differently. He thinks that someone shouldn't feel restricted by a society that expects him to hide his feelings. However, necessary in all this is the implication that Emerson believes most people try to restrict others, and are restricted themselves. Society is, by definition, a group of individuals. Therefore in order for society do something, a majority of individuals in that society must decide to do it. This is a sort of paradox, where each individual is restricted, but is also part of the group that is doing the restricting. Emerson believes that the Great People of the world are those who reject these attempts to contain thought and speak their minds no matter what.

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*If that's a real word, it's existence is purely by coincidence