The central difficulty encountered by Agents Of Change is that, as a whole, humans find change objectionable.
This inclination begins on a cellular level, where the simple programming states: "if I am alive, everything is perfect. I should continue to do exactly what I am doing. To change is to risk death." There is no concept of "better" or "worse" on a cellular level. There is only "alive" or "dead". Am I alive? Perfect, change nothing or I will fight you.
From there the human psyche backs up what has become a genetic imperative. Our subconscious creates a vast storehouse of barriers to change in an effort to keep all systems running smoothly. Enumerating the entire list of blocks to change is beyond the scope of a simple blog entry, but here are a few examples:
- To change is to abandon one's current "identity". This is, subconsciously, akin to suicide.
- On a genetic level, a change to DNA is called "cancer".
- Change often means effort. Fatigue (or what some call "laziness") is our enemy here.
- Change can be interpreted as an admission of:
- Guilt
- Stupidity
- Worthlessness
- Lying (side note: change is often a result of discovering one's lies to oneself - a bitter pill)
- There is always risk.
- Possible chiding by peers. (Even when change is positive - sometimes especially so.)
- Change may not take hold, and eventually fail.
- It may be discovered, too late, as a negative change.
Let's not forget, however, the volume of research already accomplished in this area. As Lawrence Lessig says: creativity is always based on the past. We need to ensure that all operatives have at least a working knowledge of what has been discovered so far.
I am currently writing a formal proposal for the creation of a complete catalog of barriers, with organized lists of change strategies, newly discovered countermeasures, and applicable technologies. This proposal will be published for peer review in the new year.
Regards,
Burns
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