The problem with being human is that, most of the time, we really do not know who we are or who we ourselves want to be. Like, so you yourself love partying or do you do it because you cannot digest the idea of being left out of the activity of your colleagues? Do you feel joy in screaming at the top of your voice in a quiet place or are you conditioned to think that screaming IS joy? How much of what you like is liking for that activity and how much is merely not liking the idea of being the outsider?
Tiru has this to say:
Nilaththiyalbaal neerthirin dhatraagum maandharkku inaththiyalba dhaagum arivu - Tirukkural
Like water takes on the characteristics of the land it is in, the minds of people get molded by the company they keep - Loose Translation
There is hardly a need to belabor the fact that water can become muddy, marshy or flow clean depending on the nature of the land it flows (OR stagnates) in. Tiru says that, in like fashion, your mind adapts in tune with the company you keep.
So, yes, if the chaps around you are into the esoterica of dark matter and black holes, you'd perforce be interested in such things. Else, obviously, you'd change your company because their conversation would put you to sleep. If your company is deeply into applying rocket science to predict the gyrations of the stock market, you'll need to dance with the best of them or jump out of that group into another that is more interested, say, in the gyrations of El Nino. And so on...
It is not merely in WHERE you apply your mind that peers are such an influence. They can also be a big influence on WHETHER you apply your mind at all. As in, ANY political grouping or grouping based on a strong ideology, will perforce have limitations on how you can think. You are absolutely proscribed from any thought that sees the other party as possibly right in any given issue; and, likewise, prohibited from seeing anything wrong in whatever your side has chosen to support. So, yes, you'll slowly realise that the only way to avoid being canceled is to follow the leaders and NOT to think for yourself.
In like manner, whether you treat life as a stern and earnest thing where you ought to spend every hour of every day in making money; whether you treat life as a ball and sponge on friends and relatives as necessary; whether your leisure is spent in activities like hiking or skydiving or scuba diving OR in the time honored tradition of the couch potato lying around eating popcorn while watching the IPL; whether...you get the point. The way you lead your life can well be the effect of how your thought processes were molded by the company you keep.
In other words, Tiru has presciently presented the idea of how your own personal echo chamber will mold you. It behooves you, therefore, to be careful in picking the right sort of company so that your personal echo chamber works in your favor.
Otherwise, you'll probably be dancing to your doom to the music of your own Pied Piper!