We are all victims of advertising. Whether or not we are all subject to marketed advertising is questionable, but what is definite is that we are all prone to outside influences. For example, alcohol advertising exists in the form of not only commercials and magazine and radio ads, but in how users of alcohol are perceived. How do I mean this? Watch any James Bond movie and tell me that drinking a martini (shaken, not stirred) won't make you the slickest cat in the bar.
Advertising is a two-headed coin, however, and as such goes both ways. For instance, anti-alcohol organizations advertise all the same ways that the alcohol companies do, targeting your ethos, logos and pathos just like the alcohol companies. So what's the difference? Absolutely nothing. Both sides of the argument pull you in either direction for different reasons.
Victims of drunk drivers somehow have the same advertising effect on you as the alluring and "cool" drinking scene, while worldly views and society created ethics and norms that tell you two different things all together. The factors that determine whether or not you drink, while you'd like to think they were up to you are, in fact, not. It is merely a matter of which side influences you greater.
Some people would like to believe they are free thinkers and can decide for themselves. Unfortunately, in our society today that simply doesn't exist anymore. It is this same society that instills into you how you think and how you feel, and any attempt to break away is only following predictable patterns already made into a neat little trail by your millions of predecessors. For example, if you choose not to drink because all your friends are drinking and you want to stand out, kudos to you, but there are millions of people waiting on the other side of that decision door waiting to say, "been there, done that."
Now that's not to say that you should conform to every social norm immediately. No, in fact, that's actually to say that you have already conformed to every social norm. For the stubborn soul who's determined to attempt to break away, allow me to introduce you to the hypocrisy of the indie scene. Now, this scene was started by a group of at the time radical free thinkers who decided to break away from society. Everything was all well and good until such a time came when the Originals looked around and noticed all the Copycats. You see, breaking away appealed so well to so many people that eventually the Non-Conformists became the new Conformists.
And that's not to mention the indie music scene. I'm still waiting for the day that someone explains to me why indie musicians track record sales and stadium seats. The whole point of indie music is to break away and do something for yourself. The ultimate paradox lies in the most famous indie bands, who are, by becoming so popular, are no longer indie.
Where has philosophy gone, as well? Gone are the Socrates, the Platos and the Aristotles. I have yet to hear of some new earth-shattering idea discovered by an apple landing on one's head. Our "learned" society types read about these great and true individuals, and by doing so close their minds to new ideas. By studying the old, there leaves very little room for the new. No idea is unique, everything has been thought of before. These great thinkers had no literature to influence them and that is why they were unique. These individuals were not subject to influence so they truly were the ones who were able to think for themselves. They are gone. Not only are their minds and souls long gone, but also what they represented as true free thinkers and individuals is forever a part of history.
Some people believe that history repeats itself. That may be true in select interpretative categories, but in terms of individuality and philosophy I must beg their pardon; I maintain my perspective that history has, in fact, flat lined. Now I grant that there have been thousands of brilliant scientific discoveries, both recently and throughout history. There is, however, a major difference in scientific discovery using facts and philosophical ideas using the mind. The latter is extinct. I beg of you, sir or madam, to please prove me wrong, and change the world.
