Would you want to live in a society where nobody cared about what anyone else thought about them?

It sounds like narcissism to me, but that is encouraged, at least in most English-speaking societies.

No, because although it might have some very forward-thinking, innovative, unique individuals, there are probably just as many people who would – if not for social norms – go sans deodorant or clothes. And it’s not always the people you want to see naked who go naked.

Everyone says they don’t care what people think of them. I call BS.
If no one cared what people thought of them no one would wear clothing on hot days. People wouldn’t shower every day. Girls wouldn’t wear makeup. Everyone would be fatter, unless they have an awesome metabolism. Gyms would go out of business.
I think if people cared a little less, that would be okay. But if no one cared even just a little bit… I don’t want to see fat hairy men walking around naked. No thank you. Lets go play in a different sandbox.

No. I want to live in a society where everybody is afraid of annoying me, where they live in a state of concern that they will be subjected to negative judgement by my capricious whim.
Thus, I would be King of Weinie World.
On second thought, I think I would lose respect for lots of people. That would have a negative affect on me. I would rather concentrate on being right and let the chips fall.

Inability to feel embarrassment or shame is one of the hallmarks of psychopathy. So…no.

@AshLeigh I’m with ya on this one. It’s wonderful to dream about a society where no one passes judgment on you, but it also does not exist.

@bolwerk , I agree that it sounds like narcissism, but why are you limiting it to English speaking societies?

Not really, because then the world would go nuts. We’d have weirdos running around, crazies talking to doors, and people walking around looking crazier than orange grapes. In my opinion, I think this world should appreciate criticism. I understand people can get upset by this tell, and they’ll just brush it off, but deep down, they know they’ll need it.

I also concur with @bolwerk and @Linda_Owl , sounds a lot like narcissism to me.

@Linda_Owl: It’s a certain kind of narcissism. English speaking societies are infested with the works and political ideologies of faux self-reliant “individualists” like Ayn Rand, Reagans, Thatchers, Tea Parties, etc.. Not to say it doesn’t happen at all in other cultures (Rand, von Mises), or that other societies don’t have malignant hangups of their own,* but I’ve never really encountered that specific hangup on such a scale in non-English speaking societies.

* Hell, even in the west, Italy still has a robust fascist movement. And it’s easy enough to point to religious and political authoritarian in the Islamic world, China, Thailand, North Korea, Cuba, etc…

No… I went through a phase of that, and I looked like a troll. It’s much better to care a little!

I think there’s some nuance that we’re missing in the advice we’re talking about. I literally do not care what someone thinks of my (non-existent) fashion sense, what I do for a living, whether I wear make-up or not… but these are all superficial things, and that’s what such advice is aimed at. Life is way too short to worry about that kind of stuff.

But I certainly do care about how people see me. The way I act, my level of compassion (or lack of), my ability to communicate, to love, etc. I would definitely not want to live in a world where people didn’t care about that stuff.

No, though there are cases where one ends up caring too much about what others think or about the wrong things. People mocking you for your faith, values, or unwillingness to chemically fry your brain? Good use of the “ignore what people say.” Interrupting after-dinner conversation with a sonorous belch and abrupt change of topic to puppy murder, or the Yellowstone Supervolcano? Not so much.

I’m reasonably certain that extremes are really bad. Like others have said, it can also be a bad thing to try to conform too much as well. What you’ve described borders on several different negative behavior patterns including narcissism, overconfidence, arrogance, indifference, too much self-esteem, etc.

However, even many people who behave like they don’t care what others think of them, fall into conformist cascades themselves to a very high degree. There is a big difference between being your own person and marching to the beat of a different drummer vs not caring what others think about you.

I think the important difference is that you shouldn’t care that one or a few people don’t like you for a certain thing that you are doing if that certain thing is positively reinforced by people that matter to you or if you truly believe you’re doing something good.

“Psychopathy is a personality disorder characterized by a pervasive pattern of disregard for the feelings of others and often the rules of society.”

Not caring what anyone thinks is psychopathic.

How did I miss this? No one cares for what others think and just do their own shebang? Where do I sign up? This is would be lovely!