Why extraordinary people avoid mediocre friends

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Even the strongest and most independent individuals inevitably adapt to their environment. This is why it is so important to be among those who inspire you.

To succeed and realize your most ambitious plans, you should stay away from those who cannot dream or achieve. Our environment influences us much more than it might seem at first glance. If your social circle consists of mediocrities and skeptics, sooner or later you will become one of them.

How we mimic the crowd

American psychologist Solomon Ash once conducted such an experiment: he drew a straight black line on a white background and asked the volunteers to determine its length by eye. It turned out that the personal assessment of each participant was strongly influenced by the opinion of the others. If everyone around them called a deliberately shorter line length, then the volunteer was also inclined to underestimate it, and vice versa. People literally saw this line differently depending on what others said about it.

When we have an idea or opinion that coincides with the thoughts and opinions of the people around us, we feel approved and supported. And when our ideas and opinions do not find a response, the part of the brain that is responsible for pain sensations is activated.

In this case, we have two options:

1. We can pretend to agree with the majority, but to ourselves remain unconvinced.
2. We can revise our judgments and adapt them so that they do not contradict the environment.

According to recent studies, Neural signatures of social conformity: A coordinate-based activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis of functional brain imaging studies, we choose the second option more often than we think.

How to find the right environment

If you have extraordinary, innovative ideas, then a mediocre skeptical environment will most likely not accept them and make you doubt yourself.

But if you are surrounded by the same non-standard-minded people who prefer to look for opportunities rather than obstacles, your potential will develop to unprecedented heights. Even if you have not been particularly creative before, in the appropriate environment your creativity will certainly manifest itself.

Since our way of thinking depends not only on us, but also on our environment, shape your social circle in such a way that it consists mainly of people whom you want to be like. After all, those with whom we have to communicate every day change not only our mood, but also ourselves.