The 'Elephant in the Room' he failed to mention is that the vast, vast majority of 'independent thought' has nothing to do with 'Truth', it's just more or less

The 'Elephant in the Room' he failed to mention is that the vast, vast majority of 'independent thought' has nothing to do with 'Truth', it's just more or less egosim. Also missing from the articulation is that independence from the group can be at odds with your loyalty and respect for the cause of the group, and our sense of civil duty towards it. 90% of 'independent thinking' is akin to conspiracy theory, or people arbitrarily rejecting authority, even if that authority is legitimate. 9% of 'independent thinking' is raw creativity, art, or people just expressing themselves one way or another in a variety of ways. Only 1% of independant thinking is of the type he is describing, which is conscientious. The problem is that it's very hard to have the self awareness to know which type you are. There is logic in conformity, even imperfect systems, it's much better that we have a standard than otherwise. The most enlightened people I find are those that seem actually fairly conformist not so much because they have been 'told' to do a certain thing, but because they understand why - and - have a sense of duty or obligation towards the outcome - and then conscientiously chose to take that path. It's not conformist to do what everyone else is doing if there's reason in it.