Humans are funny creatures and when I say "funny" I actually mean "strange".
I'm not excluded, I'm sure I've been observed and perceived as strange throughout the course of my life and that's ok with me; I'm human so deserve the title of strange just like everyone else. I did that today, observe someone and think to myself, "now that's one very strange person," which was due to their reaction to something that had occurred.
Human beings have a great fear of what they do not understand or to what's unfamiliar to them; it's a very limiting behavior.
The person I mention above was introduced to a new concept today, a thing that will fundamentally change how they perform their job, who they report to, their working location and hours. I was aware the change was taking place and had time to evaluate it deciding that it was a very good thing but the person above reacted poorly, with fear and dislike.
Change can be confronting.
It was explained, twice, and still the person wasn't very happy but eventually a third explanation began to sink in which is when the person began to understand that the change was not only innovative but would be an excellent benefit to him personally. How it was not seen that way from the outset was curious to me however I assume it had something to do with the initial fear of change clouding the person's clarity and that causing him to close off completely.
Across the ages many other humans have reacted the same way and I wonder how much it's inhibited people; I assume a lot.
However, fortunately for human beings there's always been innovators, people who look for and embrace change, and despite them being labelled as fools, disruptors and even crazy, they have stayed the course and brought great change and benefit.
Change is indeed scary for many people. The comfortable status quo is what they want, the predictable, mostly unnoticeable and superficial "challenge" that they can control. Which makes it no challenge at all.
Embracing change is a skill that is getting lost. Everyone claims to want it, just like everyone wanted to be vegan for a while. Not out of conviction or deeper understanding, not because they understood and appreciated the holistic benefits of it, but because they saw a lot of short videos and motivational phrases on dramatic backgrounds.
And then, what struck me, that that person understood when their personal benefit was explained. No consideration for anything but themselves. Not even remotely the possibility to see a bigger picture. I hope that person does give a valuable contribution to the company. I'd put a red flag there if they worked for me.
People are more brainwashed I think, individual thought is being eradicated and people are helping it along by sitting in front of televisions, social media, computer games and so forth. People are also more selfish which I think is promoted in society to keep people spending money, the want ethos.
A lonely person is easier to manipulate into buying things to fill a void, yes. And most social media help with that isolation, pushing products all the time and the respective images of perfect people that have it all. So, yes, people are a lot more brainwashed and will be even more over time.
Congratulations @chisomdamian!
You raised your level and are now a Minnow!