# Shuffling of Deck Chairs By:: [[Brian Heath]] 2022-12-13 When actions serve primarily as a distraction from the real problem, one is said to be shuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic. The idea is that you should not be worried about the positioning of the chairs but about the sinking ship. However, shuffling the deck chairs happens all the time - even if everyone knows there is a bigger existential problem. The organization you work for is losing to the competition, but the organization decides to have a retreat to boost morale and announce a new management structure that does nothing. The charity you volunteer at hasn't made a dent in poverty, but the fundraising ball continues like clockwork. Why do we keep shuffling the deck chairs? The answer is deceptively simple and complex. First, we believe that some action is better than no action. As a cog in the machine, we are trained to do our duty. If my job is to shuffle the chairs, I will do it and hope the captain avoids the iceberg. I have no other choice when complex organizational hierarchies are involved. If the top of the hierarchy is misguided, we are all doomed. Second, nearly everyone is operating under a single ideology that they are largely unaware of. All models are wrong, but no one said you had to use only one model. If you are unaware of what model you are using and you only use one, it is no surprise that you'll miss big things like your sinking ship. Furthermore, not only are most people operating from one exclusive ideology, but most of them do not fully understand it. Parrots are great imitators of human sounds and social cues, but no one believes they understand the complexities of human languages. We not only fail to teach people multiple viewpoints but also the depth of these viewpoints. Instead, people have surface-level understandings that fail to assist them when life gets complicated and existential crises emerge. Thus, shuffling the chairs seems reasonable. At least it is something, and who are we to judge them? This is the society to which we belong. Perhaps pointing out that people are just shuffling the deck chairs is the ultimate shuffling of deck chairs. So, what pattern should we put the chairs in? Or, should we attempt to steer the ship toward something better in solidarity? #### Related Items [[Paradigms]] [[Thinking]] [[Solidarity]] [[Action]] [[Ideology]]