¶ Change
RBF Definitions
"People are afraid of change and I find that these conditioned reflexes of fear are just overwhelming. People don’t like to admit fear because they are so full of fear. And they are full of fear because of the unknown, of how little man really knows, and so afraid that those dependent on them are going to be in jeopardy. So we have a really basic fear of change and it’s very, very difficult to cope with that conditioned reflex.
"Hence, we have to be comprehensive in our thinking, to be infinitely tolerant, to understand rates of change, to understand the inertia, to understand the fear. We must avoid doing things that will excite the fear and do everything that will eliminate it. I don’t mean then to eliminate challenge-- for challenge we must have. We will continue to have challenge because the Universe is continually changing and we are going to continue to be confronted with the new. We are here to be problem-solvers; that’s our function in the Universe. And we have the capability and the responsibility…
“Clearly, if something needs to be done, it really can be done.”
¶ Citations
- RBF draft introduction to “Abet Innovation,” by Naimark & Barba, 2 Nov’73.
