In 1841, Ralph Waldo Emerson published “Self-Reliance,” his enduring broadside against religious dogmatism, in which he railed against individual weakness in the face of institutional pressure. “For nonconformity,” he reminds us, “the world whips you with its displeasure.” Emerson made clear that the desire to conform not merely to those around you but to one’s prior views on a subject can be just as limiting and indeed hobbling.
