When one hears the word “Disobedient'', they often associate it with adjectives of the same classification. Unruly. Mischievous. Disruptive. Delinquent. The word disobedience is almost entirely regarded with a negative connotation. But what if we, as a society, learned to shed this term in a new light?

In 1891,  Irish Poet Oscar Wilde claimed, “Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man’s original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made, through disobedience and through rebellion.” I support Wilde’s statement regarding disobedience as a valuable human trait. Growing up, society teaches children to be obedient. They are taught to listen with no questions asked. But one must ask themselves, who has ever changed the world by being obedient? Ultimately, the most notable people in history were rebels. They were the innovative thinkers, non conforming to the groupthink forced upon them. Often, their tendency for defiance was an act of bravery. Stepping outside the lines of society puts individuals at the risk of being outcasted or viewed as a threat. Figures such as Mahatma Gandhi, Rosa Parks, and Galileo Galilei are historical proof that the act of disobedience is essential for change.

Mahatma Gandhi is among the most revolutionary individuals in the history of civilization. In 1882, Britain’s salt acts forbade Indians from collecting or selling salt, despite it being a resource of their own land. After leading tens of thousands in a protest across India, his country was able to receive their rights and freedom back.

Rosa Parks is another figure who has embodied disobedience for the greater benefit of society. By Parks refusing to sit at the back of the bus, she went against not only the law, but her very own society in itself. This act of one individual resulted in the Montgomery bus boycott, a campaign which thousands of African Americans united for 381 days straight. Their refusal to conform with unfair segregation laws opened the door for a civilization of change and acceptance.

And finally, our modern knowledge of science and astronomy can be highly credited to Galileo Galilei.  Despite being respected today, Galileos’s genius wasn’t recognized during his lifetime. He proposed the heliocentric theory, that the Earth revolves around the sun, and the Earth wasn’t the center of the solar system. He was therefore accused of blasphemy and going against the teachings of the Roman catholic church. Galileo's very own mind and intelligence was feared, and he was therefore outcasted and designated as a heathen. In modern times, our civilization recognizes that Galileo’s brilliance wasn’t a threat, but rather a gift to humankind.

And so, there is little knowing where our present world would be without the figures who were brave enough to go against the rules, to go against what civilization has deemed as “acceptable”. And now, at a new day in age, we may look around to find the next unruly, delinquent, disobedient, individual. One who may create the change so inescapable in this world.  It is time that we as a society start to welcome change with open arms, for it's a necessity.  For we can only prosper after understanding the progression of our civilization isn’t despite disobedience, but rather because of it.