On the Development of my Thoughts (part 6)

My point in all of this is to show the negative effects of exclusive humanism taken too far. Certainly, good has come of exclusive humanism, but in the perpetual balance of good and evil in human nature, a lot of bad has come of exclusive humanism as well. The strain of individualistic thought has infiltrated seemingly all aspects of American culture. After 233 years, we are still fighting for our independence, except now we are all fighting against our own sources of oppression, for our own form of individuality.
It is a futile fight.
Individuality is a lie. To be truly your own person, to make decisions based solely on your own thoughts, considering only yourself, and affecting only yourself is impossible. Individuality can only be understood in terms of its opposite, which consists of normal, interrelated human dependence. Individuality is the withdrawal from these dependencies, but since it depends on them for its very definition, it is unachievable before it has even been attempted. This is a bit technical, but individuality is impossible even in the contexts in which most people think of individuality. No human can exist as an absolutely autonomous individual. Everyone has been affected by another person at some point or another, even if it is in the slightest way possible. More likely than not, every individual on earth owe most of their knowledge, behaviour, and views to other people who have influenced them. To truly become an “individual,” to become independent of these influences requires removing yourself from them. It may be possible for a person to survive “on their own,” separated from all humanity. Emerson's transcendental contemporary Henry Thoreau even managed to produce a great deal of writing while relying on only himself in the wilderness. However, any of these accomplishments are meaningless without any human interaction. If Thoreau had been truly independent, Walden would never have existed for anyone but him and thus, in effect, would not have existed at all.
This becomes especially significant for those who try to seek individuality as an accomplishment. This is ultimately unattainable because for the accomplishment to mean anything, there must be some standard to which it can be compared or someone to recognize it, but for the true individual, neither of these can exist. It is a catch-22. Thus there can be no achievement. This may not be the only reason people seek independence. Some people find their identity in being an individual. However, identity is a very complex thing. One of the prevalent ideas held by the average person today is that people can determine their identities for themselves, and the only thing that matters is a person’s self assessment. This may be a comforting notion, but it is illogically founded. Identity is as much determined from the outside as from the inside, from how people are perceived as much as from how they perceive themselves. The pressure to conform is enormous, especially against those who stand out. Therefore, if an identity must be perceived for it to exist, then it is not possible for a person to have an independent identity. If nothing else, every person owes their physical existence to someone else. Ultimately, it would seem that to truly be an individual would mean not only to be completely removed from all society, but not to exist at all.