Wall, stupid!

By John Constantine

At least that's what I say when I walk into one.  Somehow they sometimes escape my state of the art sensory apparatus and suddenly there's a flat, vertical surface appearing before my face as a relatively (relative to my nose, that is) high velocity.

But, to my credit, I usually don't run into them twice (often).

It's just not something likely to be selected for.

At least in my family tree.

So, it occurs to me that walls are a very effective method for the environment to teach us what not to do - and what to do.  When there's a wall, we usually spontaneously start walking around it.  Children, at a very young age, respond to walls.

Walls aren't bad.  They give us shelter, they protect against the wild, they give us a space to grow and enjoy life.

Metaphorically, walls are what gives us "cells o' life"™ a way to differentiate ourselves with all you zombies out there.  You can't be an individual without boundaries.  It's fundamental to our being.

Given the pain factor, walls make an excellent environmental metaphor for changing human behavior:

Change the environment, and the people in that environment will adapt spontaneously.

No political party needed.

You can try this for yourself at home.  Rearrange the furniture while everyone's asleep. (Note: if you actually can accomplish this, please send us email at: spunky@hellblazer.com.  We'd very much like to enlist your services).

If you can survive the aftermath you'll notice that even bleary eyed, morning drowsy, before their coffee in the morning humans adapt amazingly well.  In fact, within seconds (from empirical results) these humans are likely to be chasing you around the room, running and attacking you in a totally unfamiliar environment.

This is evolution for you.  Clinical studies have shown that humans without this ability are few and far between (Wickham, et. al).

So, if you want to change human behavior, make judicious use of walls.  Open a space where there is none, close off a space where there was none before.  Define boundaries.  You'll get far better results than by voting.