Why non-conformists always end up looking alike

Author: Robby Berman / Source: Big Think

Anti-conformists have an odd way of ending up looking like each other.
A Brandeis mathematician looks at how this synchronicity occurs.
Understanding the mechanism behind non-conformist conformity has applications in other areas, like the stock market.

We’re here for such a short time, and we’d like to think we matter.

“I’m not just one more person — I’m different.” That’s true, and also… not. We’re very much like one another, though the particular details of our lives are, of course, pretty unique. Still, particularly in the Western world, we like to be seen as separate from — and better than? — the herd. Many of us go out of our way to look different than “them,” too, declaring our uniqueness in our appearance.

So, how come so many individual anti-conformists end up looking alike? It’s called the “hipster effect,” and a study from Brandeis University mathematician Jonathan Touboul explains how it happens.

It’s not just an issue of visual fashion, by the way. As Touboul tells Technology Review, “Beyond the choice of the best suit to wear this winter, this study may have important implications in understanding synchronization of nerve cells, investment strategies in finance, or emergent dynamics in social science.”