Do We Really Want to Be Unique?

We usually classify people into different categories - extroverted, calm, quiet, reserved, downright introverted and God knows what else! It is indeed a very telling characteristic of the human mind that we tend to categorize everyone we've ever talked to - irrespective of whether that conversation spans ten words or ten thousand - into the above categories...maybe not exactly into the above but certainly into some group or the other.

Why is this so? Why is there this obsession with classification? Maybe it is there because such a classification assures us that we're not the only ones like ourselves. Maybe it is there for the same reason why people look to others...others who are achievers or are great in their own right...for inspiration because it lends a meaning to their lives...because it makes them believe they are not the only ones of their kind and there were, are and will be many others who will be similar in being, thought and mind to them.

It is at these times that I realize the full meaning of the statement that we all do tend to make out of habit, or just out of a wish to sound acceptable and true (even if some of us do not tend to make this statement, still every one of us must have used this statement at least once); that-

Man is a social animal

I believe from whatever I've observed of human nature that we just can't stand the thought of being alone in anything. We need the reassurance, time and again, about the validity of our actions in the eyes of our fellow humans. We need the reassurance of someone saying 'been there, done that'. Even the most individualistic person in the world seeks that because that assurance makes him believe that his life is being spent meaningfully. I challenge all those who would defy what I've said here. I challenge all those who say they don't care about what others think and do...I ask all such people who make those claims to look into their own souls and question themselves...I think the answer they get might surprise them...

That is why some people attain greatness...because they can marry their pursuit of excellence and immortality with acceptability in their fellow humans' eyes. Even those like Galileo whose greatness was only fully appreciated after their deaths, became great because they pursued the one thing that is ultimately cared for and respected by all humans - the truth. They ultimately became great because their work and their lives gained recognition in their fellow humans' eyes...