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Why Humans Resist Change
In the simplest terms possible, the human brain is wired to prefer familiarity.
This is also true of our bodies – our default is to maintain a state of ‘homeostasis’, meaning that we keep things the same.
When things stay the same, then we spend less energy on thinking, planning and responding to events. In short, we can kind of live on autopilot.
This might look like:
- taking the same journey to work
- - eating the same breakfast every day
- - watching the same TV show
Or for a famous example, how about Mark Zuckerberg wearing the same grey shirt and blue jeans every single day.
Zuckerberg explained his dressing this way as an energy saving tactic. The less brain power he spent on things like deciding what to wear, the more brain power he had for growing Facebook into the huge business it is today.
The above examples are fairly sensible choices. But unfortunately, our preference for familiarity extends to bad choices too.
This could look like:
- staying in a job that makes you unhappy
- - staying in an unhealthy relationship
