Hipsters And Our Desire For Being Unique Leads To Everyone Looking The Same, Says Math

Everyone strives to be unique, to have their identity expressed in their work, fashion and taste in clothing. Oddly enough, that pursuit of uniqueness leads us to choose the same things and look alike. Mathematicians have come up with a model that explains why we end up looking the same despite trying to be as unique as snowflakes.

Breaking down the math of being unique, there are four things to consider, according to Paul E. Smaldino, from the University of California, Davis: There's the "position," or expressed taste; "information," a person's knowledge of the reaction caused by expressed taste; "ideal position," where you want to be in regard to what's considered average; and "positional adjustment rule," changes made based on where you are and where you want to be in regard to the ideal. Creating a model using these assumptions, Smaldino ran simulations where individual preference for uniqueness is around the same and another where the pursuit of individuality varies -- some people want to conform while others want to rebel.

Interestingly, difference led to similarity for the different simulations. Discover Magazine has a good way of looking at the math using fictional high schools. "This conformity was not dependent on our initial modeling assumption of identical distinctiveness preferences. We showed that as long as the variance in individuals' preferences is not too large, the population still converges toward conformity even with heterogeneous distinctiveness preferences," Smaldino wrote. An extreme pursuit for individuality can lead to the creation of different branches away from conformity.

In another study, a neurologist looked at how a delay in recognizing the mainstream can also lead to all of us looking the same. "I think it's valuable in showing that there are a lot of ways to get conformity -- if people change their behaviors in response to others but don't consider how their own behaviors affect everyone else, then even the quest for distinctiveness can lead to a fleet of clones," Smaldino told International Business Times. "Obviously, everyone is not identical, because there are other factors at play other than the quest for global distinctiveness, but we nevertheless do see a lot of uniformity among people trying to be different -- hipsters, punks, academics. Truly unique people are rare."

Sadly, Smaldino cannot give any advice on how to be unique. The research was published in the journal Royal Society Open Science.