Take a Different Route

Tips to keep your brain sharp

I went to a different facility to have the emissions on my car checked this morning.  Seemingly inconsequential, if not downright boring, information to impart.  But intentionally taking a different route is a radical act.

We humans are wired for conformity and routine.

We have a familiar route we drive to work, or the grocery store.  A regular path we follow on a daily walk.  A normal workout time.  Our grocery list likely looks relatively the same every week.  Even when we are trying to not conform, we conform.  Think punk rockers.  It may be variations on the spiked mohawk, leather, and piercings, but it’s all identifiable as a group, as ‘punk rockers’.  Walk into any corporate headquarters and homogeneity rules.  The ‘rule breaking’ Silicon Valley types all look alike.  They don’t look like old-school IBM, but they sure look like tech workers.

It’s rather depressing if you want to be an individual, exhibit your creativity, signal your independence, and engage in critical thinking.

Defaulting to conformity and routine is downright dangerous for activists.

Whether it’s blocking someone whose views offend you (as I saw twice in LinkedIn this week), or only talking with people who agree with most everything you believe, being locked in the the echo chamber of conformity and routine is death to activists.  Algorithms make it far worse.  Social media ‘helpfully’ analyzes your interaction to ‘recommend’ content you might like.  The more you click on one type of post, the less of any contradictory content you see.  Your echo chamber shrinks until you are surrounded by a virtual circle of helpfully nodding, brain-extracted semi-sentient beings, and you lose all competitive advantage over stronger, more nimble and creative forces.

An exaggeration?  Yes.  Kind of.  But frighteningly simple to imagine.  The current social and political divisions are proof of conformity thinking.

The most radical act that you, as a person, and certainly as an activist, can take is to consciously take a different route.  I’m not talking moving to a new country and assuming a new identity (although that may be your right path), I’m talking small things to keep your mind sharp.  Drive a different way to the grocery store occasionally.  Intentionally follow, and watch, people you don’t agree with on social media.  Dress up even though you are working from home.  Drink tea instead of coffee tomorrow morning.

Every single time we deviate from the norm, from our habit, it sends a shock to the brain to pay attention!  Wake up!  Process new information!

It feels good to be part of a group, a tribe, a neighborhood, an organization.  Working together, we can accomplish far more than if we go it alone.  But we are also unique, and harnessing the strength of individuality for the greater good is at the heart of activism.

What one thing will you do differently today to shake things up?

My new thing is doing daily ‘Activist Tips’ reels on Instagram.  Check them out at RWR_4change.