What to Think of Popular Opinion

"Everything popular is wrong." - Oscar Wilde

When you do something differently from everyone else, you may feel discomfort. You may have people tell you not to do it. Don't take that as sufficient reason not to do it; this may just be the price you are paying for the advantage you gain. There's no free lunch: that discomfort is sometimes part of what is keeping other people from doing the same thing. No pain, no gain.

ex1: If you're gay and grew up in the Midwest and were expected by your parents to join the Army, you may feel a lot of discomfort at the thought of instead coming out of the closet and moving to Manhattan's West Village.

ex2: When Sam Walton ran his first-ever store (a Ben Franklin's), he routinely got into conflicts with the corporate people at Ben Franklin's when he introduced new ways of doing things. If he had bowed to every bit of pressure to not do things differently, it seems unlikely that he would have ever been any better than the rest of the variety store owners.

ex3: Arnold Schwarzenegger: "The body isn’t used to the 9th, 10th, 11th, or 12th rep. But that’s what makes it grow! Going through that pain barrier, experiencing the muscular pain, aching, and continuing to go on and go on. That’s what divides a champion from everyone else. If you can go through this pain barrier, then you may get to be a champion; if you can’t go through it, then forget it. And that’s what most people lack. Having the guts to go through, the guts to go in and say I don’t care what happens! If it aches, or I fall during a workout, I don’t care. I know it could happen, but I have no fear of fainting in the gym. I've thrown up many times while I was training, but it doesn’t matter, because it's all worth it."


On the other hand, you need to pay attention to why you feel the discomfort and why other people are telling you not to do it. There could be a legitimate danger to what you're thinking of attempting. You should probably try to get an accurate estimate of the danger and do a cost-benefit analysis.

from wikipedia:
[context: General Sherman had a huge nervous breakdown early in the Civil War and was called "crazy" by the press; it was basically like the Howard Dean "YYEEAAAHH" of its day]

Quote:

Shortly after the Union forces occupied Corinth on May 30, Sherman persuaded Grant not to leave his command, despite the serious difficulties he was having with his commander, General Halleck. Sherman offered Grant an example from his own life, "Before the battle of Shiloh, I was cast down by a mere newspaper assertion of 'crazy', but that single battle gave me new life, and I'm now in high feather." He told Grant that, if he remained in the army, "some happy accident might restore you to favor and your true place."[50] In July, Grant's situation improved when Halleck left for the East to become general-in-chief, and Sherman became the military governor of occupied Memphis.

[Lesson: Think long-term, and remember that your reputation can always be changed.]

Mark Cuban saying that you should be better educated than your customers and give them what they will want rather than ask for their opinion of what they think they want:
http://blogmaverick.com/2010/04/06/why- ... customers/