Individuality: A myth?

Right then... Back to existentialism :p

You know, individuality isn't something you earn; something you can work at. It's not a trend, and that is why you fail. Truth is, there IS such a thing, it's just so impossibly hard to acheive intentionally, as to be insubstantial. If you subscribe to an idea, or trend - even if that trend is to BE individual - then you are merely conformist.
Ironically, those who come closest to individualism, are those who simply do not care, and do what they like to fit their own pleasures.
Myself, for example (bear with me here...). Yes, I wear converse. Yes, I will listen to bands. Yes, I wear certain clothes, etc, etc, ad infinitum... But my point here is, I'm not claiming individuality, simply that most (I don't think anyone could realisitically say "all") choices I make are motivated by my preferences. For example, I wear converse because I like how they look in my ridiculous shoe size. I have long hair because I was bored of short hair. I'm in bands because I love all types of music, and playing.
I suppose, then, that a concession to individuality on my account is strictly down to selfishness, and/or arrogance. I don't hear music, or see others dancing to it, and think "Ooh, lots of people like this, I better had too!"
I dislike the herd mentality.
In my opinion, few things are more embarrasing to see than the following:

1) People straining desperately to be different. It's paradoxical to even bother. Not in a nihilistic way, but simply that the end result is that you join a different crowd, rather than the one before. Relax. Accept the inevitability of being prejudged, and if you really have to, just try to refine the preconceptions that ultimately dictate your decisions.

2) Pretention & claims of originality. Again, you are not novel, or different. We are all of one species. So, we have a pre-programmed, biological imperative to react to certain situations. Basically, on some level, we are all the same, so the arguments fall apart. On what level are we meant to assess individuality? To what degree do we have the right to claim to be so?

Again - Please do not assume for one minute that I believe myself to be original. I know I am not. The only thing I'm doing here is making an observation. (In itself, hardly an original idea... See what I mean?). I'm simply one of those people whose choices are motivated, for the most part, according to my own preferences. I'm not consciously trying to make myself fit in all the time. But neither am I straining to stand out. I'm happy to make the choices that will make me happy, without bothering about whether it's been done before or not.
So, earlier I mentioned the idea that individuality was not entirely a myth - And here's why:

Innovations. I don't mean the iPhone - That's just the refinement of a pre-existing concept. I'm referring to true innovations. Ideas so mind-bending that it takes someone truly unique to even begin to think of them. Forgive me, but if you had presented me with a lump of iron-ore, I could have spent the rest of my life staring at it without thinking "I wonder if I could heat this up, go through a complex series of purification processes, and end up with a hard, strong, shiny substance?".
True innovators are the people who change the way we perceive the world around us:
Before learning about the Newtonian theory of Gravity, I never once looked around and thought "I wonder thy we stay on the ground, and things fall downwards?"
Before learning about Alexander Graham Bell, I thought it was perfectly natural to transmit my voice through a cable to someone miles away without a second's pause. Again, if presented with a length of copper wire, average Joe - or average Tet? - wouldn't think to create a signal path converting sound to electricity and back again.

Anyway... This is the point. Individualism isn't something you can force. It's immutable, unpredictable and occasionally unwelcome.

Well, anyway...
Time for me to say Au Revoir, once more!

Tet x