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Rigidity
2 min read · 508 words
Rigidity is the operator running fixed patterns regardless of whether the patterns fit the current situation.
The system encodes patterns through repetition. The Patterns entry covered the mechanism. Useful patterns become defaults that run efficiently. The cost of efficiency is some loss of flexibility — the encoded pattern fires regardless of whether the situation matches the conditions under which the pattern was originally useful. Some rigidity is structural to having patterns at all. Pathological rigidity is when the operator has lost the capacity to depart from the pattern even when the situation clearly warrants it.
The mechanism that produces increasing rigidity over time: each running of a pattern reinforces it. The operator who has run a pattern thousands of times has installed it deeply. Departing from the pattern requires effort the operator may no longer have available, particularly when the pattern is producing the survival or function the operator depends on. The operator becomes increasingly committed to running what has been running, increasingly unable to access alternatives.
This is most visible in older operators who have been running similar patterns for decades. The morning routine that cannot be varied. The conversational pattern that runs the same regardless of who is on the other end. The categorical opinion that fires on cue without consideration of the current case. The food preferences that have narrowed to a small subset. None of these are necessarily dysfunctional individually. Cumulatively, they describe an operator whose accessible territory has contracted to what the deeply installed patterns will produce, with most other configurations no longer available.
From the chair: rigidity can be slowed by deliberate small departures from patterns. Not large changes — the system will resist large changes from deep patterns. Small variations within the pattern’s territory. The slightly different morning sequence. The unfamiliar food. The conversation with someone outside the usual social pattern. The new route on the familiar walk. Each small variation maintains some flexibility in the system, signals that variation is possible, and prevents the deeper installation that pure repetition produces.
The other application: distinguish operational rigidity (the patterns that produce reliable function) from defensive rigidity (the patterns that protect the operator from input that would require updating). The first is functional within its domain. The second is the system’s defense against information that would challenge current structure, and produces the contraction of accessible territory that doesn’t serve the operator.
The diagnostic for defensive rigidity: notice when the pattern is being defended past the point of merit. The opinion held without engagement with new information. The behavior continued despite clear evidence it isn’t producing the intended result. The relationship dynamic maintained despite recurring breakdown. These are usually defensive rigidity, and the operator running them is paying ongoing cost to avoid the discomfort of updating.
The operator who maintains some flexibility into later life has access to a wider range of operations than the operator whose patterns have rigidified. The flexibility is built through small consistent practice, beginning earlier rather than later.