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Comment by goto11 | Hacker News Reader

Fun observation that everybody in this community consider it positive to be "independent minded".

But the author seem to fall into the same trap at the end:

When I wrote "The Four Quadrants of Conformism" I expected a firestorm of rage from the aggressively conventional-minded, but in fact it was quite muted. They sensed that there was something about the essay that they disliked intensely, but they had a hard time finding a specific passage to pin it on.

Isn't it much more likely that the conventional-minded people actually liked the essay because it confirmed their values and world-view? Presumable the essayist can't read minds, so this is just how he hopes they reacted.

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I don't think this community is unique in the number of people who believe themselves to be independently minded. I can't recall the last time someone has told me they are a conformist compared to the number of times I've heard someone describe themselves as an independent out of the box thinker.

"Everyone is an independent thinker until they get punched in the prefrontal cortex”

Everyone likes to be an "independent thinker", nobody likes to be a "weirdo"

"It's one of those irregular verbs isn't it? I have an independent mind. You are an eccentric. He is round the twist."

It's funny because no matter how people react, he can spin it to confirm his world view. If people reacted with a "firestorm of rage" like he expected, then it's because he really angered those conventional-minded losers, and he's doing something right! And if they didn't, then it was because they're too stupid to refute his trenchant critique.

"If they're angry, then I'm right. But if they're not angry, then they're actually secretly angry and I'm still right."

It's so funny honestly.

“Everybody is identical in their secret unspoken belief that way deep down they are different from everyone else”.

"When I wrote "The Four Quadrants of Conformism" I expected a firestorm of rage from the aggressively conventional-minded, but in fact it was quite muted. They sensed that there was something about the essay that they disliked intensely, but they had a hard time finding a specific passage to pin it on."

Or perhaps they just rolled their eyes so hard that they strained their eye muscles and then couldn't see to type.

"[7] You see this especially among political extremists. They think themselves nonconformists, but actually they're niche conformists. Their opinions may be different from the average person's, but they are often more influenced by their peers' opinions than the average person's are."

So close. Just a little farther. Almost got it.

Also:

> There may even be a phenomenon like Dunning-Kruger at work, where the most conventional-minded people are confident that they're independent-minded, while the genuinely independent-minded worry they might not be independent-minded enough.

I think for intelligent disciplined thinkers it's a positive to be independent minded. Stupid people risk becoming "cranks" and/or believing in conspiracy theories, and being defrauded of their money for woo-pills and woo-accessories.

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