if the lesson's never learned it's just like stitches for show

"What and how much had I lost by trying to do only what was expected of me instead of what I myself had wished to do? What a waste, What a senseless waste! But what of those things which you actually didn't like, not because you were supposed to not like them, not because to dislike them was considered a mark of refinement and education--but because you actually found them distasteful? The very idea annoyed me. How could you know? It involved a problem of choice. I would have to weigh many things carefully before deciding and there would be some things that would cause quite a bit of trouble, simply because I had never formed a personal attitude toward so much. I had accepted the accepted attitudes and it had made life seem simple..."

-invisible man

people subconsciously form opinions based on other peoples' opinions. and eventually everyone just thinks the same way.