Comments on: Homophily http://infinitewebdesign.com/journal/designers/archives/2006/11/05/homophily/ Building Web Sites by Building for the Customers Tue, 06 Jan 2009 13:35:39 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0 by: Customer Centered Design » Being Interesting http://infinitewebdesign.com/journal/designers/archives/2006/11/05/homophily/#comment-21532 Thu, 09 Nov 2006 07:29:02 +0000 http://infinitewebdesign.com/journal/designers/archives/2006/11/05/homophily/#comment-21532 [...] Russel Davies writes about how to be interesting (unrelated to the recent brouhaha surrounding the Flickr interestingness patent). This seems to be related to the phenomenon of homophily (the tendency to associate with people like yourself). By stepping outside of your comfort zone to learn and try new things you are breaking from the personal inertia that binds so many of us to our boring daily routines. I find it can be a challenge to keep pushing myself to find new sources of intellectual stimulation. It’s so easy to just read blogs written by people I know and agree with or listen to radio programs I already like or watch TV and movies I know I will enjoy. I sometimes to grab a random book or DVD, to drive down a different road, or, my biggest challenge, talk to a person I don’t know. I find that a degree of randomness in what I’m exposed to each day is alternately unsettling and exciting. [...] […] Russel Davies writes about how to be interesting (unrelated to the recent brouhaha surrounding the Flickr interestingness patent). This seems to be related to the phenomenon of homophily (the tendency to associate with people like yourself). By stepping outside of your comfort zone to learn and try new things you are breaking from the personal inertia that binds so many of us to our boring daily routines. I find it can be a challenge to keep pushing myself to find new sources of intellectual stimulation. It’s so easy to just read blogs written by people I know and agree with or listen to radio programs I already like or watch TV and movies I know I will enjoy. I sometimes to grab a random book or DVD, to drive down a different road, or, my biggest challenge, talk to a person I don’t know. I find that a degree of randomness in what I’m exposed to each day is alternately unsettling and exciting. […]

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