Expression and Identity

I think that many people respect a person, who has his own opinion and strength to express it, regarless of the fact that others might disagree with them.

I personally know few individuals with these qualities. Frankly, they sound a bit rude, but usually they speak the truth, when everyone else is silent. These type of people - rebels, that are very straightforward and i honest, have a good chance to be leaders.

As essayist Nassib Taleb said in his book Antifragile, “A new form of courage was born, that of the Socratic Plato, which is the very definition of the modern man: the courage to stand up for an idea, simply because the privilege standing up for one’s values, had become the highest form of honor”

The reason why people like Elon Musk, Kanye West or Steve Jobs are very “expressive” in authentic way is that they are not afraid of being wrong or sounding silly

When asked about an opinion about particular subject, shy people like me tend to choose the safest path - presenting a thought that doesn’t offend anyone(neutral) or just shutting up

Some people give “popular opinion” instead of theirs(they might not have it even) ,because an idea that has more public following is another safe path

A lot of people fear being judged or even being punished for speaking their minds. They worry about other’s feelings and opinions - “their public image”. As a result, they choose to stay silent or conform popular opinion, even though it doen’t align with their own values.

When we deny our own truth, we lose touch with who we really are. Unfortunately, this denial starts from early age, from primary school, through high school and even in university. We go to school and do the tasks, so that we get good grades. We experience that being different is bad, presenting confronting idea is building argument, which means disrespect. When we go to university, we present the ideas that our professors like, we write things that they want to read. Because we don’t want to make any professor mad and fail in the courses we do not like. And this habit follows us to the workplace, where we present the ideas that our bosses like, we do the tasks that they want us to do.

In today’s time,the act of self-expression is extremely rare. I agree that we should be kind and respectful to others, but when we are kind, we are 90% of the time not honest. We are just trying to be nice.

And I don’t want to be nice, I want to be honest. I want to be me.