3 mins

What tetris was trying to teach us

What tetris was trying to teach us

If you’ve played tetris before you would know what I’m talking about. The entire point of Tetris is to neatly fit shapes into spaces. The better you are at fitting in, the quicker you vanish. But maybe Tetris was trying to teach us that if we fit in, we disappear.
It explains a lot about our relationship with conformity and misfits in the world. The most revolutionary figures throughout history were rarely those who followed the well written path. Einstein's theories seemed absurd to everyone. Van Gogh sold just one painting in his lifetime. The first personal computers seemed like toys to serious computing professionals. Early automobiles were dismissed as unreliable and inferior to horses. The internet itself was once considered just a passing fad.
Theory of confimrity
In today's exponentially changing world, where the pressure to conform grows stronger every day, paradoxically, the value of being genuinely different has never been higher.
The Broken Windows Theory provides an insightful metaphor here: originally about crime and urban decay, it suggests that small signs of conformity, like not speaking up, always agreeing, or never questioning norms can slowly build up, eroding individuality and creativity. Each minor concession to conformity becomes another "broken window," leading to an environment where innovation and genuine self-expression struggle to flourish.
Conformity’s impact stretches even further into the larger scheme of life and design. When everyone conforms, innovation stalls because genuine breakthroughs come from challenging what already exists. Design thrives on distinct perspectives, different experiences, cultures, and thought processes. When designers conform, their creations become predictable and safe, losing their power to inspire or disrupt. Conversely, when they resist conformity, design becomes a powerful tool for shaping the future, sparking meaningful change, and solving real-world problems in unexpected ways.
The new wave
Social media has become a giant echo chamber. It nudges us to want the same things, think the same way, and live the same life in slightly different fonts. It rewards agreement, encourages repetition, and makes it easy to stop asking the harder questions. What do I actually want? What feels true to me?
We’re living in an age of rapid change, yet the pressure to conform has never been stronger. Strangely, the more the world accelerates, the more valuable it becomes to stand out. But the tools we use every day are designed to flatten difference. Algorithms favour what is familiar. They boost what's expected and quietly bury what doesn’t fit.
So we adapt. We shape our online selves to meet the moment, to fit in just enough. And in doing that, we slowly shave off the edges that once made us different. Not because we want to, but because the system rewards it.
If we fit in, we disappear
Today's world feels like riding an exponential wave. Everything is shifting starting from tech, culture, expectations, all at once. No generation before us has surfed a wave like this. The old play books, once passed down, are starting to crack. They were written for a slower world. Yet many still cling to them, chasing certainty in uncertain times.
But what if the real risk is following advice that no longer fits? Taking cues from a world that no longer exists. It’s like trying to navigate the ocean with a map made for land. It feels safe, but it won’t get you anywhere new. Founders know this. That instinct to question, to resist the obvious path, is what sets them apart. They are not looking for a map to follow, but they build one that works for them. That let's them create something valuable for the world. Not fitting in is not a weakness. It is the beginning of original work. It is how value gets created in a world that has outgrown its old instructions.
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