11 August

Here’s a fun paradox. Humans copy one another obsessively. But why? Because they’re all different. We’re obsessed about imitating other people *because* we’re all different. If everybody is different, the only way to connect and bond with others is to in some way copy something they’re doing, to be similar enough to them to have ‘common ground’. And it gets even more interesting. Because every copy is itself a betrayal. Just as in love, what we think is a ‘match’ is itself full of differences, which over time will cause the imitation to unravel. We think ‘ah that’s the same thing’, when it’s really an imitation full of differences. Why you may think you know a person, when they imitate you enough to ‘connect’, but over time that relationship can start to unravel, as the true differences between you unfold. All reality is a game of Chinese whispers.