Life Needs Randomness
I've been thinking a lot about filter bubbles lately -- and not just the internet kind. The people around me every day are a filter bubble of their own -- chances are they drive similar cars, wear similar clothing and have similar hobbies. Since people tend to cluster around people that are like them, and then subsequently attempt to fit into that group, our lives tend to keep us pretty firmly within our comfort zones. We don't get a lot of randomness.
This post was originally about curation on the web, which is a solution specific to the filter bubble problem online. Curation, while not a new concept in real life or online (we've long had DJs and social bookmarking services), is picking up steam as people realize that there is value in assembling interesting and unique collections. Sites like Gilt, Pinterest and Restaurant Bucket List all deal in curation (Gilt employs people to do it, the others crowd source it) and let visitors stray outside of their algorithmic recommendation circles to find new and unique areas or things to try out.
But there's more to breaking out of filter bubbles than just changing what sites you go to online -- there's a big bubble in the real world too, and breaking out of this one is even more difficult. The solution is not to set out on a quest to find new interests -- you don't know what you don't know, so you probably won't find it. The trick is to increase randomness. When I think of a typical week, I don't get that many opportunities for serendipity -- the people I know and the places I go are generally pretty predictable.
I don't have a perfect solution -- there probably isn't one. However, there are some interesting prospects that I'll be watching and thinking about. A few standouts on the web to help increase real-life randomness are Meetup and GrubWithUs. Meetup is focused on informal meetings for any groups of people that want to assemble, and GrubWithUs bills itself as a way to "Eat with Awesome People". Another interesting avenue is volunteering -- in the past, I've found that the perspectives gained from volunteering are as outside-the-box as any I've found elsewhere.
Serendipity is an important ingredient to success -- not just financial, but in life. We can all think back to chance encounters that ended up making a big impact on how we think, act or relate -- and often they happen because of a new person or experience outside of our normal comfort zone. The more steps we can take to actively expose ourselves to new ideas and people, the more interesting people we will become, and the more success we will have.
