It’s important to get on the trail from Consensus. Consensus is how things ought to be. It’s Consensus that stakes waypoints for travelers. It’s Consensus which is home to shiny cars and white picket fences. As strange as it is to say, leaving Consensus behind should be the top priority.

It’s easy to stay in Consensus. People will tell you you’re right and the frenzy of the time will make it look so. But contributing to the collective echo chamber doesn’t seek truth. It stokes the egos of the citizens of Consensus who think what they’re saying is novel. It makes them believe that Consensus is the best place to be – because it feels good.

Those in Consensus believe they live on the fringes of compliance. They think they’re running their own race, but by wearing blinders, they fail to see everyone else herding in the same direction. They’re all on a circular path back to Consensus, not running from it! The illusion of standing at the edge only does them harm.

To deviate is to generate independent narratives, though it’s hard to do. It comes at the cost of others looking smarter through noise. Noise and achievement often look very similar, but they’re not the same. For what do many of us have to show for it but a few anecdotes? It’s easy to point to noise; it’s hard to earn achievement.

Success is often measured by quantitative output, but it requires hidden qualitative input. Qualitative humanness is what makes success so anomalous. Ideating original insights requires us to recognize that we are conformist, and to consciously find a new cluster to focus on. To get on the trail from Consensus, you first must realize you’re there.

Trail