In Defence of Rebels and Booze

In the age of conformity and cultural stagnation

If you think culture has become a bit ‘samey’ of late, you’re not wrong.  ‘Boring’, might be a better term.   Whether in fashion, music, film, advertising, thought-leadership or business, replication is the name of the game and ticking the buzzword-bingo boxes has become easy and predictable.:  ‘Sustainable’, ‘Diverse’, ‘Clean-living’, ‘Purpose-Driven’, ‘Productivity', ‘Mindfulness’ etc....  all safely within a rapidly shrinking Overton Window of ‘acceptable’ narratives.

(Source: Er, me)

This is the age of copy-cat conformity and apparent cultural stagnation. Nine of the top ten grossing films of the last decade were sequels or franchises, pop music has got more similar over time, fan-fiction books flood into the top-performing genre (bafflingly, fairy-sex fantasy - who knew?)   The ‘Airbnb’ design aesthetic for interior design is now a thing, and punks, goths and emos have all but disappeared.

The familiar is comforting. Algorithms know this and reward it.  TV adverts are formulaic to an almost comical degree; social reels recycle formats and soundtracks- with Beyonce’s ‘Texas Hold’em’ the current thumb-scrolling accompaniment.  Even Linkedin has become awash with generic posts such as ‘here’s a (bleeding obvious) observation’, ‘‘40 things I learnt by 40’ (that frankly, you should have realised by 25), ‘My Top 10 Productivity Hacks’ (including the innovative, unplugged ‘walk’) and ‘The Problem with AI is…’ (normally written by AI).  Why?  Because they convert.  Add some outrage and you’re really on to a winner. Check out the free Everything is a Remix documentary for more - and you’ll see that it’s not necessarily all bad as much of our remixing culture is all about combining new with the old-and-familiar to help us understand the world better, plus achieve cut-through for the new.  As Stephen King comments ‘imitation precedes creation’. All innovation is ultimately copy… transform… combine.  

But we do still need to encourage rebels and mould breakers.  How can we teach true free-thinking to the next generation of innovators in an exploding-AI world which is inherently derivative and risks drowning us in copy-cat content?  A world where human quirk, creativity and unpredictability will become the point of difference. 

I suspect many activists would deem themselves rebels, but are they really?  Yes, they’re fighting ‘the system’ but activism is the new religion of purpose and it thrives within bubble-like tribes where adherents feel safe and welcome whilst indulging in mass confirmation bias. Many within ‘the system’ are typically sympathetic (academia and media especially) plus it’s much easier to advocate for simplistic tearing-things-down than for incremental progress on incredibly complicated, nuanced topics.  It’s rarely ‘risky’. Indeed, pushing back on activism can often prove more perilous to careers and reputation by provoking the ire of mobs. 

Better to play it ‘safe’, emulating tried and tested success or advocating for popular opinions than to go out on a limb in nearly any field.  The recent online documentary ‘Climate - The Movie’ utterly blew my mind on this point, honing in on the science and experiences of non-grata, yet incredibly eminent Nobel-award-winning sceptics and so-called ‘deniers’.  (A hugely worthwhile investment of time if - and only if - you’re intrigued by the possibility of having everything you’ve thought on the subject challenged.  Note: Most aren’t. Please feel free to share any strong rebuttals of it with me as I honestly don’t know what to do with this new insight 🤯).

So where can we go for genuine inspiration now?   ‘Inside ourselves’ seems to be one answer.  

Recently we’ve seen the mainstreaming of serious-enquiry into micro-dosing and hallucinogenic drugs (with ayahuasca-parties a thing in start-up circles);  the rise of breath-workshops that flood the brain with an excess of oxygen and revelation; ice-baths to shock the system; the boom of adrenalin-inducing activities and a resurgence of interest in spirituality in all its forms - yoga, nature-worship plus a renewed growth of interest in religion after many years of decline. 

Drug-induced spiritually doesn’t sit that well with the control-freak in me, although I’m intrigued by many of these (and did enjoy a recent breath-work ‘ceremony’ albeit distracted by being asked to thank the Earth-Goddess and Sky-God).  I do know a few anons who use marijuana responsibly and praise its calm-inducing, curiosity-arousing properties as a trigger for deeper contemplation.  Musk indulges here (famously on a Rogan podcast, another high-profile weed-fan) and legalisation for recreational use is creeping in across the Western World.   On a house-swap in Canada last year we received a huge, legal tub of it as a welcome gift from a generous neighbour working within the industry!

Arguably, I’d say all of these legal stimulants (in moderation) and spiritual explorations - anything that instils a sense of personal-transcendence -  have the potential for more positive impact on our creative brains than the short-lived dopamine generated by stranger likes of generic content that can only serve to inspire greater genericism. 

For my part, I’d like to make the controversial case for good, old-fashioned booze.  Not alcoholism, note, but the occasional tipple.  

My socials are awash with T-totallers embracing abstinence or ‘dry’ periods.  Concurrently, I’m privy to many private conversations with GenX peers questioning our relationship with alcohol and possible over-reliance on it (conclusions: not healthy and probably)…  but I can’t be the only one that is starting to find born-again sobriety-preaching just a bit tedious and self-satisfied?  Sorry. 

There are of course people for whom this is absolutely the right course and for whom it has been life changing and all power to them.  Few people reading this will be idiots, we all know the health risks - but it’s fine to acknowledge that most people don’t have an issue and can enjoy it responsibly and in moderation.  

If I look back at some of my happiest memories, many (most?) have involved alcohol.  It’s why I first got together with my husband (my drunken green-eyed monster reacting instinctively to someone else’s intentions on him). It’s fuelled some of the most intimate, bonding conversations I’ve had with friends and inspired some of the best business ideas and countless blogs - this one included.  Would these have happened without?  Possibly some, but definitely not all.  I suspect ‘came up with it in the pub’ is the most common origin-story for start-ups and there’s been press recently (given its reintroduction) about Zuckerberg coming up with the Facebook ‘poke’ when pissed. Sounds about right. 

There is a sweet spot of ‘enough’ that lubricates my thought processes, opens my mind to new possibilities and allows me to indulge in deeper emotions that my sober brain seems to resist.   For example, there’s a certain amount that provides the perfect permission to self-indulge in grief for my father and I find these annual solo reveries - normally accompanied by our favourite music - enormously cathartic.  

Jesus famously turned water into wine, appreciating its spiritual benefits, and others have commented at length on it as a ‘powerful instrument of mediation between humanity and the divine’. 

So the next time I see you, the first round is on me.  Let’s allow it to help us colour outside the lines with our conversations and ideas and induce our inner rebel. 

Cheers!   

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