Today's Reflection: The Courage of Nonconformity

“The opposite of courage is not cowardice, but conformity.” — Rollo May

Almost every political press conference in these polarized times is an abject exercise in unyielding conformity.

The French diplomat and political philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville wrote in his classic nineteenth-century text, "Democracy in America," how ideas are controlled in the United States. “I know of no country where, in general, there reigns less independence of mind and true freedom of discussion than in America,” he wrote.

Tocqueville argued that European monarchs could repress or punish certain ideas but they could not fully stop ideas from circulating, while the United States has a more subtle and effective means of maintaining uniform ideas: the social influence of the majority. When a majority is achieved at the organizational or governmental levels, it can silence dissenting ideas because the majority wields both political and social power. The majority has the power of the law and it also influences status and belonging.

The work of existential psychotherapist Rollo May explains how this kind of majoritarian rule can operate. He roots it in the human need to belong. This need can make people feel powerless as individuals, so they seek agency by conforming to socially-accepted scripts. “Most find conformity more comfortable. This is why the opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice, it is conformity,” said May.

May explains conformity as the surrender of one's own perception, voice and responsibility for the comfort of social cover. Courage, on the other hand, is a process of becoming real, in which virtues and commitments are substantive and not simply performative. This kind of courage is rare in our contemporary political life. Complexity is denied, and open debates within groups are stifled.

Abstract expressionist Agnes Martin’s paintings present a nonconforming voice. At first glance, there seems to be little that is recognizable in her images to grasp or understand. There are just repeating lines and monochromatic colors. But the intent of her work was to make feelings visible.

In Martin's painting, "Friendship," she covered a six-foot square canvas with gold leaf and scored the surface with a series of horizontal and vertical lines revealing a red undercoat. It gives the physical image a vibrating quality that produces a feeling of connection. The painting does not conform to any of our commonly-understood symbols of friendship and is a unique expression of this universal experience. Martin suffered from debilitating schizophrenia and relied on the support of friends throughout her life.

Authoritarian leaders insist on conformity to their ideas because it suppresses the practice of courage. Agnes Martin's work illustrates what happens when individuals have the courage to step forward and express their experience and ideas in their own unique voice. It changes the way the rest of us see and experience the world.

Society is an ongoing debate that is never finished, it needs the courage of nonconformists to continue.

1. Alexis de Tocqueville, "Democracy in America" (1835)
2. Rollo May, "The Courage to Create" (1975).
3. Agnes Martin, "Friendship" (1963).