Additionally, there’s high social costs to being extreme—to doing that last 20%. Why do we not ruthlessly eliminate all meetings from our agendas unless they’re super useful? Probably because it would upset some of our colleagues and negatively impact our working relationships. You can be the “no clutter guy”, but now you’re the “no clutter guy” your friends and family tell stories about at social gatherings. Maybe you go so far as to realize you don’t need a bed and replace it with a futon, but then you start a relationship and your partner isn’t so amused by your minimalist futon lifestyle as you are.
This goes beyond “sticky status quo”. At some point your extreme lifestyle will be read as commentary on how other people live. Perhaps you don’t mind being a bit eccentric. Perhaps you even get some sense of identity or enjoyment out of it. That’s all fine but IMO these social costs are part of why people tend not to go too far with most lifestyle things.
Additionally, there’s high social costs to being extreme—to doing that last 20%. Why do we not ruthlessly eliminate all meetings from our agendas unless they’re super useful? Probably because it would upset some of our colleagues and negatively impact our working relationships.
You can be the “no clutter guy”, but now you’re the “no clutter guy” your friends and family tell stories about at social gatherings. Maybe you go so far as to realize you don’t need a bed and replace it with a futon, but then you start a relationship and your partner isn’t so amused by your minimalist futon lifestyle as you are.
This goes beyond “sticky status quo”. At some point your extreme lifestyle will be read as commentary on how other people live. Perhaps you don’t mind being a bit eccentric. Perhaps you even get some sense of identity or enjoyment out of it. That’s all fine but IMO these social costs are part of why people tend not to go too far with most lifestyle things.
Excellent point. Being extreme almost always has negative social repercussions.