Thought For The Day: Douglas Coupland

I wonder if the need for individualism may, in fact, be a form of brain mutation spread lightly throughout a population. I wonder if most human beings were cut out to cope with the psychic vacuum that freedom can create. I get the impression from the daily news that there are a lot of people out there, possibly a majority, who don’t actually want progress – or the freedom progress brings. I also get the impression that most people are happy to belong to a group – any kind of group – and they mistrust someone who doesn’t feel similarly. And I also get the impression there are a lot of people out there who perceive chaos as freedom – which is somehow embarrassing. Sometimes I even wonder if feeling unique is an indication of actually being unique – even though it is the feeling of uniqueness that convinces us we have souls and are individuals.

FT Weekend.

PS Fagburn is still away, by the way...