The first time that I genuinely realised how much we humans dislike change, was after reading the superb booklet “Who Moved My Cheese?” by Dr. Spencer Johnson (PDF). Please also see my related blogs of 27 December 2014 (no change, no progress), 23 February 2015 (the promise and fear of Change – part 1), and 17 October 2015 (unaffordable).
Our fear of change is everywhere: at work (eg, new boss, new IT systems), at home (eg, new child, new partner, new house, new vacation), at sports (eg, new trainer), in nature (eg, climate change), and with our health (eg, new symptoms).
Despite this fear, change is everywhere. My blog of 27 March 2016 was about the ongoing process of rejuvenation of human tissue. Yet, we see ourselves as a “static whole” while our physical composition changes every single second. We even claim towards other people that we “haven’t changed” either compared to our youth or the last time that we met that person.
There is an overwhelming amount of scientific evidence that climate change is an evolutionary certainty and historical fact. Nevertheless, we still treat climate change as an extraordinary event that should preferably be countered and stopped.
We are always looking for a state of Equilibrium while our entire human Life – and also Nature – are nothing but Change.
Why are humans so much focused on finding an equilibrium? And where does our fear of change come from?
The answer in that superb booklet was quite simple: either you change and adapt or you die. If so, why do humans fight change??
I think and feel that the answer is in “the speed of changes in our society, especially with respect to science and technology. This speed has been superbly captured in a 3 minute video by Business Insider Science.
I thoroughly recommend watching this short video. It will give you a new perspective on time and space”. Excerpt from my 13 February 2016 blog on the Technological Revolution (1800-2100) – part 3.
Prior to the Industrial Revolution (1760-1820/1840), societies did not experience large rural-urban migration flows primarily due to the inability of cities to support large populations. Lack of large employment industries, high urban mortality, and low food supplies all served as checks keeping pre-industrial cities much smaller than their modern counterparts. Essentially, human life could then still be compared to the ancient life of hunter/gatherers. Excerpts from my blogs of 14 March 2016 on “change: urbanisation, city states and democracy”, and 3 April 2016 on human firmware.
Our human firmware is still rooted in millions of years of slow change and treats (rapid) changes like existential threats.
Pointer Sisters – Slow Hand (1981) – artists, lyrics, Wiki-1, Wiki-2
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