Venkatesh Rao

When everybody around you is changing direction, it can feel like you are.

Looking back skeptically, I’ve likely never changed direction in my life. Every apparent turn has either been changing operating mode (like turning on wipers because it’s raining) or other people turning en masse. Makes me wonder where I’m going. This is inertial non-navigation.

Every time someone has gone from liking to disliking me or vice versa, they’ve changed, not me “following the crowd” is not automatic. Herding may be an instinct but you still have to track turns. If you’re not paying attention, it’s suddenly “hey, where’d they all go?”

Right now, of course, the answer is “to clubhouse”

The good news is, your sleepwalking direction may become fashionable more than once. Then it’s like “he where did all these people come from?”