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I got third at a competition and instead of giving me a medal like regular, they Instead gave me an Octopus (It was called the “Kraken Open”). I thought that was pretty nonconformist because they had the audacity to make their tournament different. This captures the trancendental idea of being unique, and being your own.

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To exist, is to understand all aspects of life. We must enjoy the betrayals with the victories. The best way to live is to feel every pain as well as pleasantries.

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Life to a trancendentalist is a very pleasant thing. It's a gift that we have a responsibility to cherish and enjoy fully. True trancendentalists love their lives.

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To be a trancendentalist is to be a winner. Trancendentalists are champions, and champions never settle for failure or defeat. They keep their chins up, heads high, and continue doing what they need to, to make their lives rich.

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To be a seer you must be fearless in your attack on life. Taking what you want from it without remorse. To fulfill your deepest fate, you must be dauntless enough to accept it.

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As transcendentalists, we have to continue our changing journey in life. Trying new things, doing different things and being different. To be who you want to be you must work to become what you want to be.

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Emerson's wanted people's lives to be always fresh. To Emerson, life was a journey where you are supposed to travel every path.  You tread the paths you like the most more often, however you never become complacent and stay there.

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This is a little piece I made online including the two most Important Transcendental writers and a few of their descriptions. I Imagined Thoreau's sideburns on this standing man.

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This is a little piece I made online including the two most Important Transcendental writers and a few of their descriptions. I Imagined Thoreau's sideburns on this standing man.

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11. Nonconformity is not just about being different, but about Being better. Non-conforming can be an act of self-discipline to make yourself better than your environment.

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11. Nonconformity is not just about being different, but about Being better. Non-conforming can be an act of self-discipline to make yourself better than your environment.

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Against The Grain: A Guide to Nonconformity

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9. This article discusses the power of allowing yourself to be different not only on yourself but your surroundings. By being something different you can set an example in a positive way towards others.

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9. This article discusses the power of allowing yourself to be different not only on yourself but your surroundings. By being something different you can set an example in a positive way towards others.

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This quote attributed by Robert Green Ingersoll to Ferdinand Magellan (1480-1521) is a great example of non-conformity: "The Church says the earth is flat; but I have seen its shadow on the moon, and I have more confidence even in a shadow than in the Church." Imagine if he had not had the courage to go against what the Church was teaching. Imagine what our own country would look like if our Founding Fathers hadn't fought against the taxation and oppression of the Church.

In 1915 Mignon Mclaughlin said, "every society honors its live conformists and its dead troublemakers." We owe all progress, discoveries, and breakthroughs to those who had the courage to be different. Think about that. If we conform to what society dictates without questioning or daring to take a stand, when society demands conformity at the expense of common sense or reason, we would still be ruled by the Church of England. Our failure to question the banks and their business practices led many to lose their homes and retirement savings. Failure to question the government led to the loss of 58,000 American lives in Vietnam. Our failure to question the government also led us into the Iraq and Afghanistan wars with the cost of American lives lost still growing.

If it weren't for Martin Luther King Jr. taking a stand against conformity we wouldn't have the Civil Rights Movement or the Women's Rights Movement that changed the way society thinks and acts towards African-Americans and women. The non-conformity displayed by these movements caused us as a society to rethink our positions and change our laws to benefit the greater good of society as a whole. We are seeing many non-conformity protests and uprisings all over the world, as the people begin to wake up to the oppression of their Governments, religious leaders, and laws that only benefit a select few, leaving the people who they are supposed to represent without that representation or ability to voice their dissatisfaction with them.

Occupy Wall Street is a perfect example of what happens when non-conformity meets strong resistance from the entity from which it seeks to break free. Occupy has been vilified by the mainstream media, by the government, and by those who are afraid to step outside of their comfort zone and take a stand against what they know is fundamentally wrong in this country out of the fear of being persecuted and prosecuted. The busting up of the Occupy camps, the pepper spraying, beating, and arresting of protestors is propelled by fear. The fear our government has of the people daring to question, daring to take a stand, daring not to conform to laws and policies that have robbed us of our rights and freedoms.

While conformity in society is beneficial in that it does keep us from descending into total chaos, we should not be so socialized that we act out of habit, conforming to authority figures that don't represent the ideals and values we hold, out of fear instead of agreement. Courage doesn't mean you are not afraid, it means you do it anyway. Courage-to go against the system, to be a non-conformist, the ability to take a stand and change society in a way that serves the greater good and not just a select few-is what made our country what was once the greatest in the land. And it is what it's going to take to bring us back to that greatness.

So, I say rock on Occupy. Have the courage to finish what we have started, for we have changed the conversation in this country and awakened those left cold, hungry, disillusioned, and homeless who had thought their voices were lost. They have found them again in the peaceful attempt by The Occupy Movement to bring attention to the plight of the American people, who have lost everything to the corruption and greed of a select few.

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This quote attributed by Robert Green Ingersoll to Ferdinand Magellan (1480-1521) is a great example of non-conformity: "The Church says the earth is flat; but I have seen its shadow on the moon, and I have more confidence even in a shadow than in the Church."

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Snap Judgement is my all time favorite podcast. It features stories from people of any background-environmentalists, FBI agents, cultists, men who had to father their children from inside a jail cell. I thought this deserved being on my Padlett because these stories awaken you to a scope of life normal people don't get to see. Expanding your boundaries and challenging your norm with new Ideas is what Transcendentalism is all about.

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Snap Judgment. with Glynn Washington. Mixes real stories with killer beats to produce cinematic, and dramatic radio. Hosted by Glynn Washington.

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10. The blend of this mural between humans and nature is the essence of transcendentalism. The Artists of the mural were trying to communicate that as humans we need to improve our connection to nature and all living things. If we can do that we might be able to learn enough about ourselves to live better lives.

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10. The blend of this mural between humans and nature is the essence of transcendentalism. The Artists of the mural were trying to communicate that as humans we need to improve our connection to nature and all living things. If we can do that we might be able to learn enough about ourselves to live better lives.

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7. Soviet Non conformist art was rampant during the cold war. It focussed on the wrongness of not only soviet society, but all society, and a self made path is more important.

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7. Soviet Non conformist art was rampant during the cold war. It focussed on the wrongness of not only soviet society, but all society, and a self made path is more important.

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6. “Some people care about what other people think, Worry about what they say. Let a little gossip Coming from a loose lip ruin a perfect day Sayin', blah, blah, blah, just a jacking their jaws Got a letta roll off-a my back. I don't give a dern what other people think What do ya think about that” "What do ya think about that" Is all about the transcendental idea of not caring what other's do or think and let yourself be relaxed while being different.

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6. “Some people care about what other people think, Worry about what they say. Let a little gossip Coming from a loose lip ruin a perfect day Sayin', blah, blah, blah, just a jacking their jaws Got a letta roll off-a my back. I don't give a dern what other people think What do ya think about that” "What do ya think about that" Is all about the transcendental idea of not caring what other's do or think and let yourself be relaxed while being different.

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5. “Admire me, admire my home, Admire my son, he's my clone. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. This land is mine, this land is free, I'll do what I want but irresponsibly. It's evolution, baby!”                   Pearl Jam fit a lot of messages in this music video, but the ones important to Transcendentalism are ideas about non-conformity and that nature is more important than industry/human development. The scene with the person turning into the man with the tie and the scene with the father and son looking out over their factories are perfect examples of what Emerson and Thoreau hated.

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5. “Admire me, admire my home, Admire my son, he's my clone. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. This land is mine, this land is free, I'll do what I want but irresponsibly. It's evolution, baby!”                   Pearl Jam fit a lot of messages in this music video, but the ones important to Transcendentalism are ideas about non-conformity and that nature is more important than industry/human development. The scene with the person turning into the man with the tie and the scene with the father and son looking out over their factories are perfect examples of what Emerson and Thoreau hated.

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Pearl Jam - Do the Evolution (Official HD Video)

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This illustrates the transcendental values of non-conformism. It provides instructions for living a life where other people’s lives and actions are helpful guides to make your own decisions, instead of strict guides that show the only way to live.

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I've been a non-conformist for as long as I can remember. "All the other kids love sports" never seemed like a good reason why I should feel - or pretend to feel - the same way. "None of the other adults are wearing shorts and flip-flops" never seemed like a good reason why I should make myself uncomfortable. It wasn't mere elitism on my part. "All the other Princeton economists take general equilibrium models seriously" was no more compelling to me than "All the other teens want their own car."

Non-conformism at my intensity rarely allows real-world success. Doing well almost always has a big social element; going solo gets you nowhere. Yet by conventional standards, I've succeeded. I have a dream job for life and enough money that I don't think about money. How did I pull it off?

Some of it's luck - especially the luck of being in the right place at the right time to meet the right people. (Thank you, Tyler Cowen). But in hindsight, I also played my cards fairly well. If you're a non-conformist who hopes to succeed in our conformist world, my favorite strategies will probably work well for you, too. In no particular order:

1. Don't be an absolutist non-conformist. Conforming in small ways often gives you the opportunity to non-conform in big ways. Being deferential to your boss, for example, opens up a world of possibilities.

2. Don't proselytize the conformists. Most of them will leave you alone if you leave them alone. Monitor your behavior: Are you trying to change them more often than they try to change you? Then stop. Saving time is much more helpful than making enemies.

3. In modern societies, most demands for conformity are based on empty threats. But not all. So pay close attention to societal sanctions for others' deviant behavior. Let the impulsive non-conformists be your guinea pigs.

4. During childhood, educational institutions' threats are by far the most real. While "This is going on your permanent record" is usually an empty threat, "Do as we say or you will suffer at the next educational level" is not. Vivid anecdotes about billionaire dropouts aside, the modern labor market remains extremely credentialist, and there's no reason to think this will change anytime soon.

5. A non-conformist attitude toward education is dangerous because academic status is painfully linear and cumulative. To go to college, you must finish high school; to finish high school, you have to finish all the 12th-grade requirements; to finish the 12th-grade requirements, you have to finish all the 11th-grade requirements; and so on.

6. Fortunately, the content of modern education is neither linear nor cumulative. You can safely forget most of what you didn't feel like learning right after the final exam.

7. Although teachers and students urge you to conform across the board, good grades in hard classes are virtually the only thing with long-run consequences. You can live with C's in P.E. Or ugly nicknames. Or exclusion from the cool kids' clique.

8. Educational success hardly guarantees career success. But educational credentials open a lot of doors - including most of the doors to non-conformist-friendly careers in academia, science, and yes, bureaucracies.

9. Most bureaucrats are deeply conformist, but bureaucratic (lack of) incentives are great for non-conformists. Think job security.

10. Social intelligence can be improved. For non-conformists, the marginal benefit of doing so is especially big.

11. Treat your family fairly, but remember that relatives - especially older relatives - are the lords of empty threats. Despite all their criticism, they probably love you too much to do more than nag you.

12. When faced with demands for conformity, silently ask, "What will happen to me if I refuse?" Train yourself to ponder subtle and indirect repercussions, but learn to dismiss most such ponderings as paranoia. Modern societies are huge, anonymous, and forgetful.

13. Most workplaces are not democracies. This is very good news, because as a non-conformist you'll probably never be popular. You can however make yourself invaluable to key superiors, who will in turn protect and promote you.

14. Spend the first year of any job convincing your employer he was right to hire you, and he'll spend your remaining years on the job convincing you not to leave. This advice is almost equally useful for conformists, by the way.

15. Despite everything, the world has more greatness than you can savor in a lifetime. And in the modern world, finding greatness is remarkably easy. Stop complaining, stop feeling sorry for yourself, and suck the marrow out of life.

16. Hiring your non-conformist friends is a great way to make your life better... but only if they follow these rules, too!

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A Non-Conformist's Guide to Success in a Conformist World - Econlib

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I've been a non-conformist for as long as I can remember. "All the other kids love sports" never seemed like a good reason why I should feel - or pretend to feel - the same way. "None of the other adults are wearing shorts and flip-flops" never seemed like a good reason why I should ...

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3. If you allow your beliefs about your own limits to hold you back, you can never reach your true potential.

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3. If you allow your beliefs about your own limits to hold you back, you can never reach your true potential.

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The importance of this to transcendentalism is that limiting beliefs kill the potential of the inner self

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Tropical and subtropical coniferous forests

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The great wave of Kanagawa is a great example of transcendental because of it’s focus on nature. Hokusai made 36 paintings of mount Fuji in his attempt to bring the Japanese people closer to nature, this being the most famous of his art.

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1. “I've lived a life that's full. I've traveled each and every highway. And more, much more than this, I did it my way”

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1. “I've lived a life that's full. I've traveled each and every highway. And more, much more than this, I did it my way”

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“My way” is a beautiful song about living your own life your own way, without letting others push you around, so that in the end, you’re proud of the life you lived.