The Virtue of Non-conformity
Nov 25, 11:25 PM by Jonathan CamenischThe other day I watched a little video promoting a certain design studio. Among the many clips where members described their creative process, there was a memorable quote:
Thinking outside the box is so passé. I like to think outside the sphere or outside the pyramid.
The guy who said this seemed to be a successful creative professional, so I don’t want to write off his intelligence entirely. But the more I think about it, the more I think that is a really stupid thing to say. It sounded cool at first until I realized it’s just so much hot air.
I don’t mention it just to bask in how stupid intelligent people can be. The “outside-the-pyramid” idea serves as a vivid example of a goofy phenomenon in our culture. Instead of pursuing beauty or truth or any notion at all of what defines good art for him, he’s trying to be original by redefining the box that he’s “outside of.” Since untold millions before him have tried to think outside the box, that’s no longer original and cool. He’s got to somehow think outside the outside of the box.
Now let me clarify for anyone who doesn’t know me well that I love originality. I’ve always had a taste for unconventional ideas and enjoyed looking in the unexpected places for solutions to problems. Some examples that caught my imagination as a child were the oblique wing and a little doodad called a vortex generator. These devices delighted me, not just because they worked, but because they were surprising, unconventional, non-intuitive.
But look, there comes a point when the pursuit of originality becomes absurd. When you have to be outside the outside of the box, and rebel against rebellion, what are you really accomplishing? Just because you are weird from the standpoint of your predecessors doesn’t necessarily mean you have anything to offer.
I would guess that anyone who has been a great original in art or science was original not because they tried to be different, but because they pursued something. Einstein didn’t come up with new ideas for the sake of originality. He pursued answers to some real problems—and apparently found them. Walt Whitman didn’t redefine poetry because he avoided convention; he sought to give expression to the essence of America, and succeeded rather well.
These individuals saw things that others couldn’t. that’s why we call them “genius” or “brilliant.” Such individuals are rare.
Others of us might contribute ideas that are original in one way or another, but being different is no substitute for being helpful. If you have nothing to affirm, nothing to pursue, nothing to build, then any denying and avoiding and tearing down you achieve is worthless. You’re nothing more than a nonconformist, just like everybody else.
I love your closing line, “You’re nothing more than a nonconformist, just like everybody else.� Amen. Many of the clothing and hairstyles fads are just that: people trying – just like everybody else – to be nonconformists.
— Kay Camenisch Nov 26, 09:20 AM #Being willing to search “outside the box" (or sphere or pyramid :-)) find real answers to real problems—is a commendable goal. Great thoughts—thanks for sharing.
— Lora Nov 26, 05:55 PM #I think this designer sensed that all this “out of the boxâ€? thinking supposedly going on today is just so much smoke and mirrors, but his response, rather than to inject substance, was to inject a different kind of smoke.
— Matt Field Nov 27, 11:34 AM #This phenomenon is a symptom of the wider disease of narcissism which so completely infects our society. Everyone needs to feel that they are an Einstein or a Ghandi or a Whitman, even though by definition everybody can’t be exceptional. Well, in the back of our minds we just suppose that it’s everyone else who’s not exceptional. I, on the other hand…
The problem is that creating works of genius is difficult and painstaking, often consuming an entire lifetime. And there are no guarantees of success either, partly because not everybody is capable producing such work.
But why bother with all that when you can get the same self-image-boosting bang for your buck by simply skipping right to the convention-busting? Put a crucifix in a jar of urine or take photographs of yourself committing lewd acts with a bullwhip and you too can be an overnight sensation. If you’re sufficiently egotistical you can even convince yourself that people are offended at your message, rather than the indecent way you chose to express it.
Who needs quality, hard work and substance when you can simply throw out the combined work of generations and feel just as good about yourself?