Our aversion to Change
Our instinctive preference for stable unchanging objects, both physical and mental, has many sources, mostly related to our biology.
We like to rely on immobile things because that simplifies our life. Things that stay the same are easy to deal with. So easy in fact, that we sometimes even forget they are there. This is a fundamental feature of the human nervous system. An example is the way that we do not feel the constant touch of our clothes or the way that we eventually gloss over constant and familiar features of our immediate environment such as some smells.
Also, danger comes from things that change, especially things that change suddenly. We are startled and frightened when immobile objects move unexpectedly. We naturally avoid such objects.
We refer to as “good” objects that change slowly, for instance houses. When a house is solid and good, that means that it will stand for a long time unchanged. When it deteriorates quickly and needs repairs, that is a bad thing. We therefore tend to surround ourselves with as many slow changing or predictable objects as possible. This in turn reinforces our bias in favor of simple, immobile or predictable things.
