In order to form an immaculate member of a flock of sheep one must, above all, be a sheep.

Albert Einstein said so, and like so many things he suggested about our universe, his insights still struggle their way into the mainstream meme pool.

His allusion to biblical stories demonstrate his universal geniosity, but as a non-specialist for psychology this revelation of the group mind remains hidden. We have many flock of sheeps nowadays (like always, globally seen), and not all of them organise themselves around religious themes. Music, Sport, Fashion, etc create a cornucopia of 'flocks' with its own set of rules, loves and hates. As we learn from Howard Bloom, human beings are a social species, solitary survival (in evolutionary sense) impossible.

Whether we like it or not, we get assigned to flocks, chose them ourselves or get adopted. Being male, white and german brightened my knowledge of prejudices immensely. Back to Einstein. An immaculate sheep obeys the rules, so must in first place know the rules. As each flock has its own rule set, mostly behaviourly and not written transmitted, choosing a different flock often causes conflict (sorted out by conformity enforcers).

A sheep straying away from the safety of the flocks has to face predators on its own, its survival becomes highly unlikely. Humans are predators themselves, leaving the flock for a while isn't such a big deal - in most parts of the world there is no dangerous wild life left, it's just abundant with flocks of pacified predators.

As Einstein said, to trot along one must be a sheep in first place.