Parable of the Roast

Another example of the dangerous side of the Conformist can be illustrated in a hand-me-down tale that I like to call "The Parable of the Roast."  I have heard several variants of this tale, so do not be surprised if it sounds familiar.

A young mother is preparing a roast for dinner.  Her daughter asks her, "mommy, why do you cut the ends off the roast before sticking it into the oven?"  The mother is flabbergasted.  "Gee, I don't know why, but my mother always did it that way."  They decide to ask the little girl's grandmother.  "Grandmother, in preparing a roast, why do we cut off the ends before sticking it into the oven?"  "I don't know," the grandmother replies, "but my mother always did it that way."  They decide to ask the venerable great-grandmother.  "Great-grandmother, why do we cut off the ends of the roast before putting it into the oven?"  "I don't know why you cut off the ends of your roasts," she replies, "but in my day, we had much smaller ovens and had to cut the ends off in order for it to fit."

The TV show "The Prisoner" shows how the Conformist and the dangers of a conformist society can lead to destructive behavior, as featured prominently in the excellent episode "A Change of Mind."