The Mediocre Majority
Escape the Downward Pull of the Herd
Welcome to the YouTopian Journey. Each week I will be sharing unique wisdom as well as a more in depth overview of the art work that is featured on the Instagram @youtopianjourney. This week we focus on the mediocre majority and why it is essential to escape the downward pull of the herd.
BEWARE THE MEDIOCRE MAJORITY
“A time is coming when men will go mad, and when they see someone who is not mad, they will attack him, saying "you are mad; you are not like us.”-Anthony the Great
When you set to walk your own path, to create your own destiny, you stir up all sorts of emotions. Internally you wonder if you are making the right decisions while externally others look at you with a mix of wonder, envy, and even disdain. This is what happens when you leave the safety of the herd.
Yes, the herd! The tribe, the mob, the masses of conformity that make up the majority of society. The people that tell you to play it safe, to follow directions, to stay in your lane, to never rock the boat. They don’t have a path because they are too busy blindly following the path of others. If they are not in a position of authority, they appoint themselves to one. The “Karens” who insist, the mediocre who desire a position of power but do not have the skills to obtain it. The mentally fragile who believe themselves strong. The cowards who think themselves brave. The stupid who think themselves intelligent. They must have their voice heard, even when their words cut like a knife to the one who seeks to walk their own path. This is often the result of unlived life, of chances untaken, and of gifts not properly used, a dangerous and potent mix.
“The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.”-Bertrand Russell
So the intrepid souls who are actually forging their own path are often filled with doubt. They are looked at as an oddity. A fool on a fool’s errand.
You must never bow to these feelings of inferiority or doubt. Instead, heed the words of Arthur Schopenhauer when he wrote the following of Don Quixote, one of the greatest works in human history:
“Don Quixote… is an allegory of the life of every man who, unlike others… pursues an objective, ideal end that has taken possession of his thinking and willing; and then, of course, he stands out as an oddity in this world.”
If going after your dreams makes you an oddity, then damn the opinion of the world and be that oddity!
THE HERD MENTALITY
“No shepherd and one herd! Everybody wants the same, everybody is the same: whoever feels different goes voluntarily into a madhouse.”- Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra
As you pursue your goal, you will encounter resistance. Resistance to change, resistance to the alteration of the status quo, and resistance to you, the individual, who is attempting to transform their desires into reality. As a serial entrepreneur with experience in a variety of industries, I made sure that Fernando did his best to illustrate the feelings that I had experienced in one simple but powerful panel.
These masses have killed more dreams, desires, innovations, inventions, and businesses than we can calculate. Now with social media and instant communication, there is a mass extinction of ideas that we cannot even begin to contemplate.
Throughout history, great thinkers have always understood the hazard that the masses represent to the truly free individual, the person who sets out to walk their own path and forge a life of their choosing. Kierkegaard said to be wary of the “immediate” men and the “Philistines.” Nietzsche referred to the masses in different tiers, the “last man,” “the slave,” and “the herd”. British writer and philosopher Auberon Herbert called them Ciphers, which he defined as people who cannot think critically, cannot act with courage, and whose broken spirit can be exploited. The German philosopher Martin Heidegger wrote of the tendency of human beings to flee from what he called the “authentic ability-to-be-self” into the comforts of conformity, which he referred to as das Man. Psychologist and philosopher Erich Fromm referred to them as automatons. Philosopher Richard Taylor called them the willing slaves of others, the people whose actions and pursuits are solely responses to the approval and will of the crowd. I refer to them as the mediocre majority. They have within them the same powers and capabilities, yet fear and an outdated mindset prevent these powers and capabilities from being used. Furthermore, they possess an inner emptiness and instead of filling the void with a higher purpose, they fill it with entertainment, comfort, and a mind numbing routine. The mediocre majority have become what T.S. Eliot prophetically referred to as hollow men in his 1925 poem of the same name:
We are the hollow men
We are the stuffed men
Learning together
Headpiece filled with straw. Alas!
Shape without form, shade without colour
Paralyzed force, gesture without motion
ANONYMOUS AUTHORITIES
“Whatever it be, whether art or nature, that has inscribed in us this condition of living by reference to others, it does us much more harm than good. We defraud ourselves out of what is actually useful to us in order to make appearances conform to common opinion. We care less about the real truth of our inner selves than about how we are known to the public.”-Montaigne, On Vanity
Erich Fromm wrote that people live under anonymous authorities. Instead of the moral and religious laws that kept people humbled and grounded in the past, the mediocre majority live under the laws of public opinion. But the public is made up of normal people, many with no real accomplishment or authority, yet whose opinions are the driving force for the mediocre majority. To live under the watchful eye and opinion of the multitude who we will never meet is no way to live!
But so many give into this anonymous authority!
They remain in jobs they hate.
Or spend time with their so called friends who belittle their goals.
This is no way to live! Listen to the wise words of Richard Taylor, who wrote:
“Many people…go through life with hardly an original thought; gravitate from one pleasure or amusement to another; gain a livelihood doing what someone else has assigned; flee boredom as best they can; marry and beget children; and then, without having made the slightest difference of any unique significance, die and decay like any animal.”-Richard Taylor, Restoring Lost Pride.
Do not be one of these people! The price is far too high to pay.
ESCAPE THE DOWNWARD PULL OF THE HERD
“The danger of the past was that men became slaves. The danger of the future is that men may become robots.”-Erich Fromm, The Sane Society
The individual needs to constantly learn, to grow, to succeed. The human organism is in a state of flux, a state of constant change. This change is fueled by constantly learning and growing. It is fueled by stepping out of one’s comfort zone and delving into this world of change, where new ideas and thoughts can alter mindsets and realities. But the members of the mediocre majority are the antithesis of this idea. They are content with their knowledge (or lack of knowledge), their standard reactions, and their manufactured emotions. That is why one must always have a mindset of being a lifelong student. Mediocrity rewards ignorance and laziness, but success rewards knowledge and work.
So you must make the right choices to escape the downward pull of the herd. These choices cost nothing, but I can promise you that they certainly pay!
Choose the prospect of success each and every time.
Choose to continue to walk your own path, no matter how difficult it may seem.
Choose growth over safety, no matter how strong the pull of the herd may be.
Choose to focus on yourself, always doing what is truly meaningful over what is fashionable.
Choose to answer your inner calling, it is driving you toward the heights of greatness.
Choose to look up toward the stars, and not down at the mud. Sooner or later, you may find yourselves among them.
Choose to be the best version of yourself, regardless of what the mediocre majority may think.
“The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority. But to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.”-Marcus Aurelius
ONE LAST THING
“A million zeros joined together do not, unfortunately, add up to one.”-Carl Jung
The mediocre majority and the downward pull of the herd is too expansive to cover in one single issue. Next week, we will continue this discussion by delving into the differences you may have noticed between the “last man” and the “slave.” In addition, we will discuss the pendulum of existence. As a newsletter subscriber, here is an exclusive preview.
I’m Shaun Gold and if you are reading this, you are already on your journey. Catch you next week.