Deviancy is the essence of culture

In his magnificent little book, Finite and Infinite Games, James Carse raises the question of deviancy. 

If we follow the script, live in the box, conform to expectations, we impoverish the culture. 

Nature is constantly emergent. The artists, the creatives, those at the edge of innovation, are the culture makers.

To bring in the emergent does not require forgetting the past, or holding it as some sacred place that we seek to return to. Rather it asks us to remember well what it taught us. To transcend its clutches while including its lessons.

Ironically, those who hold the power of influence and money, often gained from being the innovators, seek to keep the people quiet – to build conformity into the design. The conformity enforcers need us to stop asking questions, and to behave. They have even built a giant and seemingly innocuous method of doing so.

Behavioural modification through the colonisation of human interiors, then repackaged to the highest bidder who turns the weapon upon those from whom they extracted, to keep them compliant.

Practise a little deviancy. Step outside the line. Bring in the wrinkle to the perfect.

Our cultural evolution depends upon it.

June 4th 2019

Photo taken June 4th, 2019