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| | It is strongly recommended that you include your outline in the body of your essay by using the outline as section titles. The headings below are there to remind you how section and subsection titles are formatted. |
| | It is strongly recommended that you include your outline in the body of your essay by using the outline as section titles. The headings below are there to remind you how section and subsection titles are formatted. |
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> | Law School and the “Drum Major Instinct” |
| | -- By DeborahSparks - 22 Feb 2021 |
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> | Martin Luther King, Jr.’s concept of the “drum major instinct” can help us identify impulses that may drive our decisions in law school. Once we recognize these impulses, we can consciously channel them to navigate law school in a way that is conducive to our personal growth and fulfillment.
What is the “Drum Major Instinct”?
In 1968, King delivered a sermon titled the "The Drum Major Instinct.” King draws from the theory of psychoanalyst Arthur Adler that the dominant impulse driving human life is a quest for recognition, attention, and distinction. Audio of Sermon at 5:25-6:20. King describes this dominant impulse as the “drum major instinct.” Id. He reasons that “[n]obody is unhappy when they are praised.” We savor the “vitamin A to our ego.” Id. at 7:08-8:10.
The impulses of the “drum major instinct” influence law students. Of course, some may allow these impulses to drive their behavior more than others. Some may more overtly express these impulses than others. However, it hardly seems radical to suggest that many of us—if not most of us—harbor an impulse for recognition. Many of us possess the innate desire to “lead the parade.” Id. at 5:25-5:40. Law school attracts perfectionist “type As” who are exceptionally high-achieving and hard-working. We enjoy the praise flowing from our academic, professional, and personal achievements. Who wouldn’t?
The next question is why we should care. The answer is that failing to consciously recognize and control the “drum major instinct” can harm us. |
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> | An Unrestrained “Drum Major Instinct” Can Distort Personality |
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> | King explains that if the “drum major instinct” is not harnessed, it becomes a dangerous instinct that can distort one’s personality. Id. at 13:40-14:20. If we look at the destructive tendencies of the “drum major instinct,” we can see that law school is a breeding ground for personality distortion because its cultural values and pressures feed into these vulnerabilities. |
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> | The “Joiner” Impulse |
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> | First, the “drum major instinct” explains why some people join everything. Id. at 8:11 to 9:07. According to King, joining (or over joining) is a quest for attention, recognition, and importance. Id. Although King does not describe this tendency as destructive, the “joiner” impulse for law students is at best a distraction from personal growth, and at worst a means of creating personality distortion. |
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> | Law school culture fosters a notion that students should be excessively “engaged” by piling on clubs, teaching assistantships, moot courts, journals, clinics, and externships. Giving in to this “joiner” impulse can create personality distortion because we end up devoting our time and energy to activities from which we may gain a sense of importance, but from which we may not find personal value. Our sense of personality becomes fixated on attaining “vitamin A to the ego” and how we can “boast” to others about what we have joined, even in subtle or unintentional ways. Id. at 14:20-14:53. The fundamental problem is that we have an instinct to join for the wrong reasons. See “I’m on a Board” by Columbia Law Revue. |
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> | Vulnerability to “Advertisers” |
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> | Second, King theorizes that the “drum major instinct” explains “why we are so often taken by advertisers.” Id. at 9:06-9:47. He argues that advertisers use words to persuade us to buy what they are selling by appealing to our desire to feel important: “[i]n order to be a man of distinction, you must drink this whiskey.” Id. We are enticed by the offer to feed our “repressed ego.” Id. at 11:02-11:05. |
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> | In law school, there are many “advertisers,” but the most dangerous are those who explicitly promise prestige and importance if we buy their product: prospective employers. They plant a false notion that there is no alternative to buying their product if we wish to be the best. Our vulnerability to these “advertisers” is intensified when all of our peers appear to be buying the product, triggering our “joiner” impulse. When we give in and buy the product, this behavior can create personality distortion because we start to conflate fulfillment and recognition. |
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> | The Appeal of Exclusivity and Superiority |
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> | Third, King asserts that the “final great tragedy of the distorted personality” is that one “ends up trying to push others down in order to push himself up.” Id. at 16:15-18:06. An uncontrolled “drum major instinct” can make us feel satisfaction in that we are part of something exclusive. Id. We conclude that we are better than others who are not part of it. Id. |
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> | For law students, feelings of superiority can develop relative to other students and to those outside of law school. Internally, law school fosters an environment driven by competitiveness due to “the curve” and many other factors. Externally, law students may develop a sense of superiority simply due to the fact that they are learning the law, which is deliberately inaccessible to “outsiders.” These impulses can distort personality by compelling us to define our identity based on our relative position. We can find comfort in our self-assurance while forgoing efforts to grow. |
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> | We Can Harness the “Drum Major Instinct” to Do “Good”—or Something Else |
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> | King advises us that despite its destructive potential, the “drum major instinct” is a good instinct if it is used right. Id. at 27:19-28:34. He tells us to seek to be “first in moral excellence,” “first in generosity,” and “first in love.” Id. |
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> | Some of us may be motivated to become “drum majors for justice,” as King describes. Id. at 36:55-37:22. However, not all law students may wish to harness the “drum major instinct” in this particular fashion. Rather than subscribing to King’s conceptions by default, we should harness the “drum major instinct” so that we can use law school to get closer to understanding what we want to do and why. We might want to do “good,” or something else. We each have the privilege to be able to explore how to control the “drum major instinct” so that it can serve our needs. |
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