A group who shares the same world view likely engages in boisterous conversation and laughter. If your world view is different, the social occasion doesn’t illicit the same response. What’s interesting is that being the odd duck USED TO MEAN you had a lower self-image and less self-confidence than the rest of the flock.
Today the tide is changing: The ones who stand alone aren’t doing so because they don’t LIKE the others…they just refuse to believe that the traditional world views are the path to a more prosperous future. They don’t see a reason to engage in conversations about “what’s always worked”, so they hang out on the sidelines introspectively assessing the trends that have been systematically revealing what’s to come for the last decade. What other group members don’t know is that the odd duck is actively engaged in listening to multiple conversations simultaneously, even from a distance.
Unfortunately, the other group members see such behavior as “anti-social” and if inclusion is attempted, the odd duck’s ideas are so far-fetched that the conversation quickly reverts to topics more traditional and less controversial.
