Chaos - Opposing the Religion of "What Will People Think"

"If everyone would stop caring what people think. The world would be a much happier place."

My friend has some moments of deep wisdom alternating with moments of craziness. But for some reason, these words stuck with me.

Sure, they've been said again and again so many times that they seem to have lost their meaning. But that doesn't make it any less true. Our whole life is built on the philosophy and dogma of "what will people think".

Even those of us who try to follow this quote occasionally go against our own philosophy. Point in focus: the labels of a teenage girl.

If she talks to boys, she is a slut. If she doesn't talk to boys, she is a wallflower. If she shows skin, she is tempting for rape. If she dresses comfortably, she is a slob. We all claim to stand for gender equality, yet often in the same breath say things like these. 

The way we walk, the way we talk, the way we dress, the way we think, even the way we eat is decided by the collective consciousness that make up our social etiquette, the scripture of the religion of  "what will people think".

Once, a person's career was chosen by birth. Those days are said to be behind us. Yet even today, our professions are chosen for us by our birth or by what the majority of the people say. Any attempt to break out and choose our own paths is a rebellion against the social order.

We are blind and proud upholders of a pointless tradition. 

The world would have us believe blindly and devoutly in this religion of "what will people think". They think that doing what we want will upset the peace and civilisation created by our forefathers. The chaos would destroy us. Our whole way of life is built on creating and propagating order and quashing out all chaos.

 Yet chaos is an integral part of nature.

Every single being born on the surface of the Earth has at least one strand of chaotic DNA. It is this chaos in our very being that is responsible for our continued existence.

To understand this better, let's take the example of a string quartet. There will be a violin, a viola, a cello and a double bass. These four instruments combine in perfect order to create sweet, beautiful and simply perfect music. Now throw in an electric guitar.

You may say that the order has been destroyed. The perfection has been blemished and the beauty marred. It is not how it should be. The social order has been overturned.

Nothing could be more beautiful.

And so, like the chaotic strand of DNA that controls our destiny, like the electric guitar in the string quartet, and as my genius of a friend said just before passing gas in my face, if we all would only live our life as we wish, if we would only stop following the religion of "what will people think", the world would be a much happier place.