Every time I see a school of fish, I'm bewildered by the conformity. Every fish looks and swims the same.
Don't fish have a desire to be individuals? Where are all the contrarians?
Today I coded a little simoji simulation and surprised myself-even well meaning contrarians can cause a lot of damage!
In this very simple sim every fish swims to the edge of the screen.
If every fish conforms every fish makes it safe:
However, if even a single fish gets curious and goes in a contrarian direction, all hell breaks loose:
I have been a brash contrarian in my life. Perhaps too unsympathetic to those following the herd and/or attempting to guide the herd.
While I maintain that the payoffs in nature are extremely variable and warrant thorough exploration of ideaspace, I can see that perhaps I should strive to be a more courtesous contrarian.
To not be contrarian excessively just to practice being contrarian, but to only be contrarian for a few rare ideas, and courteously from the edges.
To explore contrarian ideas while respecting the schools who have gotten us this far.