I also find the factors behind this interesting. We, as a species, are social creatures. Both conformity and individuality have been beneficial to our species, and in our evolution we have operated with a balance of the two. Conforming to our in-group's standards and operations has been crucial to our survival throughout our existence. It allowed us to have a standard of operation and methods of protecting members of groups that were accepted.
However, I believe that, at least in first-world, developed countries such as the U.S., most of us are past the point of needing to survive and reproduce, which up to this point, has been the basis of our evolution. Yes, social skills can help us succeed, but ultimately there are ways to succeed while forgoing the social norms and abilities that have gotten us to this point. Especially with the advent of dating sites, survival and reproduction no longer have the same need for conformity as it did in earlier states of our species.
Evolution, though, does not realize these things quickly. There are still many intrinsic tendencies and instincts we carry with us in our interactions with the world and our thoughts about ourselves that are no longer necessary but can be hard to let go of.
One of my inspirations in the ideas I've been mulling over has been experiments such as Stanley Milgram's tests of obedience. While his studies were often seen as controversial, I admire his methods of performing objective science in order to study human nature. If you're not familiar, in his obedience study he brought subjects in to perform on experiment on learning, and the effect of punishment on learning. Two "random" subjects in a room were handed cards reading "Teacher" and "Learner."
The trick is, both cards say Teacher. One of the subjects was a hired actor, and would always assume the role of the Learner. The Teacher was instructed to operate a set of switches that would administer an electric shock of increasing strength to the Learner should he answer a question wrong. The Teacher was initially given a test shock of medium strength so he knew the pain he would be giving to the Learner. The shocks led up to 450 volts, which the Teachers were told was very strong and potentially dangerous.
Throughout the experiment, the Learner answered more and more questions wrong, The Teacher, through a microphone in the Learner's room, began to hear shouts of pain, and eventually protests and pleas to end the experiment. Most Teachers would look back at the experiment Director at this point in question, and the Director would instruct them to go on for the necessity of the experiment.
60%-65% of subjects went on to the last shock.
They then learned that the Learner, in each case, was an actor who had pre-recorded shouts of pain and such, and the actual experiment was how far people will go to punish somebody because they were instructed to. Many were upset at being duped, and at being forced to examine themselves and learn that they would have willingly hurt somebody because they were told to.
Conformity and obedience are ingrained into our cultural and neurological tendencies. It was beneficial, in the survival and reproduction focused beginnings of our race, to obey and conform because if one was not accepted, there was very little chance their genes would be passed on.
What I have found extremely fascinating is the idea that we could overcome these tendencies by studying them and increasing out awareness. If the subjects in that study had been told what the true research was, and how many people went through to the end, do you think they would second guess their actions and maybe act differently? I think this idea could be implemented on a personal level across a very wide span, and could potentially change the way we think if we choose to be aware of ourselves. Often, it is not pretty to realize these things about ourselves, but we must be aware of our undesirable tendencies in order to change them.
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