[yathern]

> Great, so you have to pretend 40 hours a week

You don't have to do anything - if it's more important to you to bring your authentic beliefs and opinions in front of others - you're free to do so. But if your number one priority is getting ahead at work - or simply aiming to develop social cohesion with a group around you, conforming to that group's beliefs and culture are helpful. This applies not just to the 40 hours you work, but to any group you want to be welcome in, whether it's your school, country, church or sports team. And after a little while, it's not really pretending anymore.

> Maybe we should tell kids that in school

Half of the reason we have school is to socialize kids to these very concepts. We obviously lecture about peer pressure, but most of this is learned innately. Society couldn't exist without these social pressures, even though they're not always beneficial.

[oceanplexian]

> Half of the reason we have school is to socialize kids to these very concepts.

School is a brainwashing machine that limits the range of acceptable dialog and therefore leads to a culture of mediocrity.

Don't get me wrong, you should always be polite and empathetic towards others. But the most world-changing ideas don't come to you when you're dedicating huge amounts of your processing power to self-censoring or arbitrarily creating constraints because you're worried that the group will cancel you over them.

[wakawaka28]

There is an actual range of acceptable dialog though. The workplace is not the right forum for discussing politics and religion, or your sex life. Not discussing that stuff is necessary not only for politeness but good rapport and productivity.

>But the most world-changing ideas don't come to you when you're dedicating huge amounts of your processing power to self-censoring or arbitrarily creating constraints because you're worried that the group will cancel you over them.

The most world-changing ideas are not hot button ragebait talking points or political soapboxing. Furthermore, it should not require a lot of processing power for you to stay on task at work and not inject controversial narratives into everything. You might be lucky enough to have some friends at work who enjoy talking to you about that stuff but have a little respect for everyone else who isn't in the mood for your shit.

[musicale]

I concur - the cost of this conformity is that creative outliers can be crushed, and their ideas (maybe important ideas that could save the organization from some dire outcome) can be lost.