On path choices, especially for rebels

Once, one of my closest friends referred to me in a blog post as “Reuben, the rebel”. I was somewhat surprised, because this did not align with my self image at that time. Not that I considered my views and actions to be normative.

I had definitely not consciously set out to be non-conforming. Instead, I was trying to live by my values and world view, and I was keenly interested in evolving my views. Over time, I could see that I was coming into some, relatively minor friction with authority and would, as I saw it, stand my ground on living how I thought is right. Even with all that I grew up pretty happily and where my views differed from the mainstream view, I did not really suffer any major consequences. Thus, never had a reason to think of myself as a rebel.

As my understanding of myself evolved, I have come to realize that my rational decision making framework had a key trait. A higher, perhaps unreasonably high weightage for adventure. In retrospect, however, I can see why my friend thought of me as a rebel. Perhaps he saw me as making choices that were (sometimes irrationally) rebellious?

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