Blog Carnival Edition 1
Hitchhiking while everyone else is driving:
What does it mean to be a nonconformist?
What does it mean to be a nonconformist?
Are we lemmings? (Gabe ponders the definition of nonconformist, talks about the drawbacks of being a lemming, and argues that "the nonconformists really make the world tick.")
We just might be if we blindly follow what others around us do.
No matter what you think of Chris McCandless, in him we have an example of a nonconformist.
I mean, he burns his money.
If that isn't violently symbolic of his need to escape what everyone else is doing, then I don't know what is.
He is a hitchhiker. (MacLean explores the benefits of hitchhiking and Kenna reviews the history of hitchhiking and suggests that it might make more sense for people to simply use public transportation.)
Literally he hitchhiked to get from here to there. (Haimei reflects on her own experiences hitchhiking and Eric tells a couple of stories about hitchhiking and then asks, would YOU pick up a hitchhiker?)
But figuratively as well--he found a way to carry himself toward adventure without doing it the way most people do, like with plane tickets and enough food and other people and stuff.
And as Stacey reminds us, "[Non]conformity can be a good and bad thing, but in the case of Alex in Into the Wild it was a life ending mistake."
So, what do you think? Are YOU a nonconformist, or are you a lemming? Which should you be? Why?
(read the blog carnival submissions, leave comments on those posts, and share your thoughts in the comments below)
The responses about personal experiences make it easy to see their point of view like hitch hiking and being picked up by a stranger who could be bad. Chris McCandless did not seem to have any bad hitch hiking experiences. I think back when Chris hitch hiked, people were nicer and Chris did not worry about bad people. Chris was a nonconformist but I think he just wanted to try to forget about his father having him with another lady. I also think that Chris conformed to society by finishing college. Maybe he just wasn't ready to grow up. At the end of his journey when he wanted to walk out, he realized that he did need other people. He just needed time to figure it out.
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