according to that view though, there's no such thing as nonconformity. Only conformity to different poles.

I think its a rather dualistic view. After all, most of the time in the world we have more than two options to choose from. And there are plenty of people who agree about a certain issue and yet, within that group, disagree about others.

some people choose to believe what they're told, and others choose to try to find the truth for themselves. But that can apply within any group. And doesn't guarantee any particular set of beliefs at the end.