"Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do."
Remember this quote? It's by a person not many know of (not Steve Jobs), used in an Apple commercial. How do you view yourself when you read this? A misfit, probably? Everyone does. We can make our brain believe anything that suits us using any given evidence. Ironically, though, while people might like seeing themselves as someone different, they aren't as accepting of someone who doesn't fit in.
And so I thought - why is 'not fitting in' glorified so much? Why do we consider a different, misfit character to be more likely to change the world? Is it in our ability to divide people like this, judge what makes them a misfit?
By saying that you should be able to alter the course of history by virtue of your rebelliousness, are we implying that society as a whole always holds the wrong opinion? That the general, public opinion is never to be trusted and that humanity, overall, needs lots to work on?
Or is it a way to say that these 'rebels', who make it past the trying the phase of being a misfit, of being called a nerd, or discriminated against and heavily discouraged, or not taken care for, have learnt to take risks, stand up against society, and thus this lack of fear qualifies them to take up challenges and discover the unknown?
Isn't fitting in better if, through that road, you can change societal opinion to what's actually right? Isn't it better to try to fit in, at least, so the inevitable, immense stupidity that plagues our species is resolved? Seems scary but essential to me, in this world of flat-earthers and climate change deniers.
I believe, and not just in this case, that labels don't really matter. It doesn't matter whether you fit in or you don't or you are in some kind of societal purgatory. Do what you want to, what you're passionate about and what your heart tells you to. The universe doesn't put a label on you, it's affected by your actions. Focus on them instead of thinking what to call yourself.
(Ignoring the fact that, well, I'm doing the exact opposite by writing this and thinking of labels.)
