Determinism and Conformity: Why it is impossible to not conform

Good morning and welcome to Coast to Coast I'm Joey Macasieb.

Our top story today, while not nessacarily involved with music and politics, surrounds the idea of conformity and a heated debate which took place in class yesterday. In an attempt to define mass culture in reference to marketing music, the class stumbled into some gray areas to include the question of conformity. The question being is it possible to be a non conformist or, rather, in being a "non conformist" one is simply conforming to the rebellious ideology of non conformity. For the purposes of this discussion, I would like to discuss a philosophical theory of free will and put to the discussion and debate of conformity an Argument from Determinism.

One key issue philosophers have debated for centuries is that of free will. The question often centers around one specific aspect: Do we (mankind) in fact have free will? One such theory that refutes free will is the Determinist Argument which states the following:

1) Everything we do is caused by forces over which we have no control.
2) If our actions are caused by forces over which we have no control, then we do not act freely.
3) Therefore, we never act freely.

According to the determinist argument, a kind of pluralism of exterior pressures exists that directly influence our actions and act as a catalyst for decisions both minute and major.

So what does an argument about free will have to do with conformity?

Conformity involves various external pressures either from the market, the media, or even from our peers. These pressures, we have no control over and, eventually we will conform to one of these pressures. If this is in fact the case, even by going against the mass ideology and being a so-called non conformist, one is still allowing those external pressures to dictate ones actions and is conforming to that given pressure. By determinism, it is both impossible to act freely and to be a non-conformist.

Credit to Problems from Philosophy by James Rachels for the determinist argument.

Thats all for today I'm Joey Macasieb and remember whether you live on the east, west, or gulf coast

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