The reasonable man adapts himself to the world.

The unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself.

Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.

-George Bernard Shaw-

I've been reading this book - Hongkongitis- which speaks of the stuff which makes people love and hate Hong Kong so much at the same time. It's a funny read so far, until this chapter that I read tonight.

It spoke about changes and non-conformity, and how Hong Kong is stifled culturally, that the people have no generation gap at all to speak of. Cantopop is popular across generations, with the same formulaic pop star idols. Fashion/arts wise, it's ripped off Japan / Korea. The old aren't afraid to follow what's trendy for the young. 'Hong Kong has no generation gap.' By and large, this is a generalisation.

I start to think about how true this chapter is. Does not having a generation gap means you're not progressing as a society? Is it an Asian thing to conform? Are we taught not to rebel against exisiting social norms? I guess to a certain extent, we tend to slip into our comfort zones. If something works well, why would you want to 'rock the boat'?

Maybe when the journey gets too smooth sailing, you'd rock it just for the heck of it.