Ralph Waldo Emerson was an individual that truly believed in the importance of the individual, and how society as a whole would rather be filled with conformists. During the literary movement of the 1830s and 1840s, the idea of "transcendentalism" was introduced. The sole purpose of this movement was to put focus on the individual and the power that all individual's posses. Emerson was an individual that believed that all people have knowledge within us, and that knowledge is the only knowledge that is actually needed. Everything we know comes from deep inside of us, and everyone has the power and ability to define things in the way that they see it. All individuals have limitless knowledge. Seen through his essay "Self-Reliance" comes the idea that Emerson was anti-conformity. He truly believed in the individual and the progression of the individual. He wrote, "These are the voices which we hear in solitude, but they grow faint and inaudible as we enter into the world. Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members. Society is a joint-stock company, in which the members agree, for the better securing of his bread to each shareholder, to surrender the liberty and culture of the eater. The virtue in most request is conformity. Self-reliance is its aversion. it loves not realities and creators, but names and customs" (21). Emerson believed that a society should consist of many individuals rather than few groups. However, he realized and noted that society's virtue is conformity. Society could only wish to consist of individuals that conform to the thoughts and opinions of others, rather than consisting of individuals that have their own thoughts and opinions. A person, in sum, should define his or her place in society by acting as an individual and defining his or herself with their own name and identity. Although society pushes for the conformity of all its inhabitants, people need to find it in themselves to defy these hopes and act as an individual.
I agree with your idea that society is better off with non conformists than people who give in to others' beliefs. However, when you say, "Emerson believed that a society should consist of many individuals rather than a few groups," I wonder about the difference. An individual versus one big group could be a problem, but I don't see the harm in a few small groups. These groups will most likely have different ideas, so their contribution to soceity would probably have the same effect as the contribution of individual people.
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