# Why people change People are *constantly* changing. From birth, we are perpetually [deciding](decisions.md), [learning](understanding.md), [aging](maturity.md), making [habits](habits.md), shifting [identities](identity.md), and creating new [results](results.md). All changes start with [conflicting thoughts](conflicts-inner.md) or an [external conflict](people-conflicts.md). ## Response Our changes are *always* responses to [our environment](reality.md). We never form a "new" change that didn't come from an outside source, though we can act on "refined environment" [desires](purpose.md) based on [predictions](imagination.md) of the future. We never technically *like* change, since it disrupts our [habits](habits.md). However, the proportion of the [Openness to Experience aspect of our personality](personality.md) dictates how much [trust](trust.md) we make over the [unknown](unknown.md) aspects of any given change. Contrary to what many more [intelligent people](education.md) imagine, changing isn't by acting on [logical conclusions](logic.md). Instead, it's based on how well we can [feel](mind-feelings.md) the benefits of the [results](results.md) of making a change. We can always [choose](decisions.md) to generally direct where our changes will go and the [values](values.md) our changes will associate with: - Physically - exercising [creativity](mind-creativity.md)/[control](results.md) on the world around us - Empirically - adding/invalidating things we've [understood](understanding.md) - Psychologically - changing our [story](stories.md) of how the world works - Socially - anything involving others including [venting](influence.md), directing, and [politics](influence.md) - [Habitually](habits.md) - intensifying what we've done before and adding to our [certainty](understanding-certainty.md) We're changing/responding proportional to the degree we [wish](purpose.md) to act. Those responses are often driven by subconscious [faith](trust.md) in past [habits](habits.md). Our change is always at least proportional to the degree we can [feel](mind-feelings.md) our environment. We won't have to change if we don't feel a connection to something, but absolutely *will* change if we do. ## Adaptation We change to conform to our [expectations](imagination.md) of what [the good life](goodlife.md) requires. Except for rebellion, we're always conforming *toward* something. Rebellion's conformity is essentially "anti-something", driven directly by simple [hatred](purpose.md) of that thing. We can't easily [calculate](math.md) how much we'll conform to something. Like with nature's [physics](science-physics.md), there's a type of "[slack](http://joshuahhh.com/projects/hysteresis/)" between when the [environment](reality.md) provides situations for us to make [decisions](decisions.md), when we actually *make* those decisions, and when we [create](creations.md) some sort of change. Inner changes show themselves less directly on [reality](reality.md), but they're *much* farther-reaching than external changes. Typically, every change has most parts of the following [story](stories.md): 1. Suffer repeated [consequences](reality.md) that could indicate there's a need to [understand](understanding.md) more or [act](creations.md). 2. If applicable, [emotionally](mind-feelings.md) recuperate from the [trauma](hardship-ptsd.md) of the experience. 3. Admit [personal connection](identity.md) to those consequences and a need to [decide](decisions.md) on what to do. 4. [Research and observe](science.md) someone else about how that [problem](purpose.md) could be resolved. 5. Adapt [habits](habits.md) and get [emotional support](people-friends.md) toward addressing that issue. While we may be changing, our *rate* of change stays relatively constant, proportional to our [openness to experience](personality.md). A mind in motion stays in motion, a body at rest stays at rest, and we adopt new things at about the same interval. We *can* change that rate, but it's difficult for us because we'll grow *very* uneasy with the shift. ## Time We don't [imagine](imagination.md) ourselves to be changing very much, mostly because of how gradual it is, but a mere five years can allow us enough [time](datetime.md) to swing over to [believing](understanding-certainty.md) the *opposite* idea we had. Each decision is relatively unimportant in a grand sense, but it slightly tweaks [what we are](humanity.md) and [identify](identity.md) with. Plus, that decision is easier to make [the next time around](habits.md), which makes us more extreme versions of ourselves if we leave [our decisions](conflicts-inner.md) unattended. By combining a decision with [results](results.md), then another decision with its results, and so on, anyone with enough [perspective](image.md) will see the slow story of how a person changes. Over a *long* time, we can clearly see the products of our decisions. A decade of living [the good life](goodlife.md) will yield a philosophically well-established person, a decade of [mindless living](habits.md) will create a bore, and a decade of [pure hedonic pursuits](addiction-substances.md) will destroy a person's life. Across a lifetime, natural [trends](trends.md) will emerge [regarding](stories.md) a person. They're only approximate, but they'll usually give a relatively reliable [prediction](imagination.md) of that person's future [decisions](decisions.md). No matter how we live, we're building additional [understanding](understanding.md). That understanding comes from how we can recall the [perspective](image.md) we had when younger compared to now, a bit like a [friendship](people-friends.md) with our past selves. ## Ripples After enough time, our changes spill into others' lives. This can dramatically shift our [culture](culture.md), especially when we break others' [expectations](imagination.md). Generally, a social group will face [*gigantic* conflicts](people-conflicts-war.md) when the [power dynamics](power-types.md) shift from someone changing. This comes from the desire for [safety](safety.md) pushed against the benefits of [taking risks](socialrisk.md).