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Free Will Vs Conformity Research

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“It is human nature to want patterns, standards, and a structure of behavior. A pattern to conform to is a kind of shelter.” For such a short quote, it sure is thought provoking, anytime I think of this question or one like it, my mind goes in a hundred different direction and I always seem to come to a different conclusion. While on one hand I believe like all life (as we know it) we follow patterns and those routines are set by nature and society, however I also believe people, more than most other life forms, have free will and the ability to break from these patterns and routines. Basically what I believe is that, like most behavioral traits in humans, the level of free will versus conformability is determined on a completely case by case basis. …show more content…
For instance, Lauryn Hill, whether she new it or not was likely a transcendentalist but she mostly maintained her modern life while she abided by the ideals of the movement, similar to the way that some people follow the philosophy of a church but aren’t actively participating. Compared to someone like Christopher McCandless or Thoreau she wasn’t quite as extreme, this is true for most people, you have the people that like to follow the conventions of society, while others do nothing but resist the flow of society. Then of course you can get the extremes on both ends, the people who actively seek to support and go with the patterns of society and life, and there are others who barely see the difference between humans and animals, such as another famous transcendentalist Ted Kaczynski: The Unabomber. He was about as extreme as a transcendentalist can get, to the point of bombing people he claimed were “...perpetuating the industrial

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