We humans often laugh at animal behavior when, seemingly unable to understand the world we have created, they run straight into trouble. Like sea turtles that hatch on the beach and instinctively follow the light toward what they think is the moon across the ocean. But when people place lights from hotels, roads, and villas near the beach, the turtles are tricked into going the wrong way, onto land, toward their death. We may feel sorry for them. We think they don’t understand. That they can’t do any better.
But we’re not that different.
We follow the light even if it leads us astray
Every day we expose ourselves to a flood of information that begs for our attention. Light in the form of push notifications, news headlines, sensational events, disasters, and conflicts. We stare, scroll, click as if our brains are also preprogrammed to go toward the brightest light, regardless of whether it leads us astray.
When we get caught up in news that gives us anxiety and passivity, rather than insights and the will to act, we are reminiscent of the turtles that can’t find their way to the sea. At the same time, we are needed, more than ever, in a different direction: to build a better society, to solve the climate crisis, to find new ways of living together, to innovate for the future.
It requires more than just going along.
It requires us to swim against the current.
Shortcut brain in a complex world
The human brain is amazing, but not perfect. It is built to find shortcuts, so-called heuristics, to make decisions quickly in a world that used to be more predictable. But today’s society is not the savanna. The world is global, digital, accelerating and full of contradictory information.
In this complexity, our mental shortcuts don’t work as well. We draw conclusions too quickly. We trust our gut feeling instead of data. We seek what confirms our worldview rather than what challenges it. It is shortcut brain in practice, and it is dangerous when the world is changing.
That is why two skills are becoming increasingly important: critical thinking and creativity.
Thinking new requires daring to think differently
Critical thinking helps us not just accept what seems like “common sense”. It trains us to ask questions, see nuances, identify hidden assumptions. It is a way of taking control of our direction instead of following the herd.
But it is not enough to say no to the old. We must also say yes to the new. That is where creativity comes in. Creative thinking is not just about coming up with ideas, it is about imagining other paths, alternative solutions, unexpected combinations. It is about thinking: what if there was another way?
Creativity and critical thinking together make it possible not only to question the current, but to actually start swimming in a different direction.
Examples of reversing perspective
When we assume something is too expensive
We might say that sustainable alternatives don’t sell because they cost more. But creative thinking can ask the question: What if we sell usage instead of ownership? Or what if we package sustainability as the most attractive?
When we assume that no one wants to change their behavior
Critical analysis often shows that people want to do the right thing, but that the system doesn’t support it. If we redesign the system, make it easier, cheaper or more social to act sustainably, then behavioral change often follows by itself.
When we say it can’t be done
It’s often because we’re looking at the problem through the wrong lenses. Creative processes like “design thinking” or systems innovation methods help us see the problem in a new context, often revealing opportunities we didn’t see before.
Not acting is also a choice
When we stop thinking for ourselves and just go along, we do what dead fish do: we float with the current. But the world needs more living thinkers. More people questioning the established. More people not letting shortcut brains determine what is true. More people saying, “Maybe that light is in the wrong direction. What’s at the other end?”
It starts with us daring to take a step back and ask: Is what we’re doing now the best we can do? And if the answer isn’t a resounding yes, then we need to turn to the power of creativity, the sharpness of critical thinking, and choose to swim in a different direction.
Because the future doesn’t belong to those who blindly follow the light.
It belongs to those who dare to light a new one.
