Every so often, I listen to music ritualistically. I have a glass of wine and light a candle and back home I even had a record player. My teenage, tortured soul resurfaces for these very occasions. The release of Taylor Swift’s newest album, ‘The Tortured Poets Department’, called for such a ritual, I felt. But so did more than a billion other people, in only the first week of its release. Which begs the question, am I just simply generic?
In the age of Swiftonomics, Taylor Swift’s influence is beyond powerful. Her most recent Seattle concert set a new record for seismic activity when her dancing fans caused the equivalent of a magnitude 2.3 earthquake. Her impact extends even to the highest echelons of power; world leaders are vying for her attention in hopes she might come perform in their countries and bring the roaring fans, and their deep pockets with them.
She has even become a field of study in many university courses in respectable institutions like Harvard and Berkeley. The world is going gaga for Tay-Tay. So are we all just sheep following trends?
It’s easy to dismiss her fans as simply caught up in the latest craze, but such a view underestimates the complexity of human behaviour. Early humans thrived on cooperation and unity within their groups, which provided protection, resources, and social structure. Blending into the group meant being less likely to attract attention from predators or rival groups thus, survival.
Maybe Swifties are engaging in a shared cultural experience that offers genuine emotional fulfillment.
Our instinct for conformity is no different today. The Taylor Swift phenomenon is an extension of our inherent desire to be part of a community, ensuring both social and emotional security.
Interestingly, studies suggest that sheep are actually highly intelligent and emotionally complex. This challenges the derogatory connotation of being a ‘sheep’. Maybe Swifties are not mindlessly following her but actually engaging in a shared cultural experience that offers genuine emotional fulfillment.
This proves that we are all starving for a connection in an increasingly disconnected world. In an era where digital interactions often replace face-to-face encounters, Taylor Swift merely offers a form of intimacy that many crave.
A strange paradox arises: herd mentality is seen as bad and being unique is encouraged, but our innate tendencies are to conform. Maybe the question is not whether liking generic things is bad, but rather whether being unique is unachievable. In one setting you might be unique, but you will always gravitate towards people and a setting you do fit in with. Conformity is community and it needs to lose the stigma.
So, I light my candle and I grab my bottle of wine, because tonight I shall dine in the company of Taylor Swift, and tomorrow it is someone else. Any recommendations for my next dinner guest?
CARLA ERASMUS