Monday, July 20, 2009

Curiosity Killed the Motherfucking Cat

Aha!

I had written a whole article on how to create a universal worldview for change and I couldn't tell you why exactly but I absolutely hated it - which is why I didn't publish it. Now I know why I hated it.

I had the wrong approach, kind of.

But Seth Godin cleared things up for me in his rant on change junkies in his book Small is the New Big.

Its all too simple really!

Its all about getting people used to change! (duh)

Its actually not simply about change but more so about diversification, which in turn accustoms change.

So how do we do it?

First off, you have to start small, like with anything else in life.

Those that have the hardest time adapting to change are those who do the same things everyday, listen to the same few genres of music, always eat the same food and at the same restaurants.

They never (or rarely) do or try anything different.

Thus when something eccentric comes along, they aren't used to it. Their mind doesn't know how to adapt, so they get frightened and reject the idea. They're used to the old way and they like it.

In cities theres a lot of diversity. Different races, different kinds of restaurants on almost every street, its all one big clash of strangers having to interact with one an other.

Thats why you would find denser populations of liberals within cities. The city nearly forces them to be eccentric. The mindset is automatically created from their environment.

Though, we do still find segregation within cities. Perhaps its because these segregated folks only see the same people at the same places, doing the same things and essentially isolate themselves from society from the fear of trying something new.

The thing is that each time you are exposed to something, you become more familiar with it, thus it becomes easier to accept and perhaps even enjoy.

For example as a child I hated spinach, though I had to eat it. I didn't eat much of it at a time, though just enough to get the taste for it, but not too much that would have affiliated spinach with a radical negative emotion. Today I can say I enjoy eating spinach, at least much more than I used to.

Change, like everything in life, comes in small doses.
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Theres many advantages to diversification.

For one you get to look at several different options, judge for youself and choose which ever option suits you best, your ideal objective (yet really subjective) choice.

Also I believe its crucial to diversify in this day in age since the near future promises so much change, already, as your reading this, things are changing at an exponential rate.

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So my solution to become (more so) accustomed to change:

Diversify everyday little things in your life. Even try things that you don't like!

Start small, for example (some examples taken from Godin):

- Each week try a new type of food, or go to a restaurant you've never been
- Listen to an album from a genre of music you normally wouldn't listen to
- Take a new route to work
- Pickup a magazine from a topic you aren't familiar with
- Meet with people outside of your expertise

At the moment I am trying to eat mushrooms (not the psychedelic ones, though I have tried those to) every week.
Im also going to download some songs by Bruce Springsteen since I haven't really liked him in the past, though many of my friends think hes a god.

Actually last year I chose golf as my gym class because before that I hated golf. I had told myself maybe if I force myself to like it I will, and you know what, golf isn't all that bad, maybe I'll hit up the driving range sometime this summer.

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What im most concerned about are conservatives and organized religions, which essentially are the same. Although you can find religious folks that diversify, but they are just confused and came to a conclusion, mostly because others have already accepted it for them, but thats a rant for an other time.

I don't get conservatives. Dont they get that their title, by definition, is against human progression? Dont they want to make this world a better place? They seem to be living in a dream world where everything is perfect as is already, which is the complete opposite of where the lifespan our specie is heading. The world is far from perfect.

One might argue that error is human, or that human is error, sure that's true at the moment, but with global warming and our specie on its way to extinction, that's an ignorant answer.

Anyways I don't think ignorance means anything to conservatives, they always seem to miss the point.

What conservatives need is a little eccentricity in their lives.

Blacks, asians, mexicans, europeans and middle-easterns need to move in with them. That would give them a little bit of perspective.

An other issue here is those living in Pakistan and in those surrounding areas where media is censored by their government.

I think censorship should be illigal.

In my post Micky Mouse with AK47s you can see what these people are brought up with.

What you see is what you get.

Ignorace was Bliss - Victor Mancini

2 comments:

  1. The times will change - slowly but surely - in this gravitionally-held concentrated ball of chaos. The waves upon waves of people will move back and forth. Ideas will collide, blood will be shed; greenery, rivers and mountains destroyed. There will be consumption, destruction and creation.

    Much time will pass before we've ascended from our primitive mindsets, and move on to universally seek happiness in a more direct manner. There is little to do now. It is great to dream of change and the willingness to accept change, but the truth holds that the human race as a whole, is still very much backwards. Beneath the thin layer of society - the trimmed mustaches, pressed business suits and high-rise buildings - we are still wild beasts. We are a horde floating from place to place, looking for the next thrill, for the next high, for the next fuck - When you get down to the grit of things, nobody gives a shit. Inherently, humans do not want change. They are carbon lifeforms, organisms, viruses; procreate and survive; prolong the life of the species.

    I can only look and direct my hope towards our ability to think and reason, to rationalize. We are quite far from perfecting these tools, but maybe in due time, we will evolve; we will ascend. The question is, how much suffering and destruction will come of it? But more troubling to ponder is, will we ever ascend at all?

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  2. Call me an idealist but I'd like to believe change will happen sooner than later, on a global scale. It will have to.

    I think everybody just has to play their part in this world.

    For example I've been blessed by having a parent that has all these great books to lend to me, for free, and also take note that I probably wouldn't have heard of Gladwell or Godin if it wasn't for him. Now that I have all this knowledge im trying to pass it on as much as I can.

    Im actually in the midst of an experiment right now at my work, about passing on these books to coworkers, its like a little sociological experiment, I'll make a post about it once the results happen, or dont happen.

    But back on topic:

    I pass these books to everyone, all my close friends have read them now, I talk to almost everyone I meet about these people (at an appropriate time of course) and I can only hope that others are doing the same to spread the knowledge.

    I think we're living in a time where we must set our priorities straight, and I believe altruistic change is at the top of that list if we want to survive.

    I would say I have hope, though I couldn't tell you for sure if the future is looking bright. All I can do is do the best I can.

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