The Decline of Deviance 2

Adam Mastroianni argues that many forms of deviance (crime, teen drinking, smoking, pregnancy) have declined since the 1990s due to rising prosperity, not intentional policy. He explores why we fail to celebrate these wins and introduces three internet-accelerated trends: cultural carcinization (convergence on a small set of viable strategies), de-frictioning (removal of obstacles that once forced creativity), and the flat-Earth problem (difficulty distinguishing signal from noise when everyone can broadcast).

Teaching:
• Use the carcinization concept to explain why students gravitate toward the same few alignment cues or breathing patterns—discuss when repetition serves learning versus when it stifles exploration
• Frame the Ashtanga sequence as a controlled environment where friction (difficulty, discomfort) is the feature, not the bug—removing it removes the growth opportunity
• Discuss with students how prosperity (more time, resources, comfort) can paradoxically narrow their practice range—invite them to take intelligent risks in postures or breath
• Teach that the fixed sequence is a Nash equilibrium for practice: stable, repeatable, but requiring deliberate deviance (modifications, pauses, questions) to keep it alive

Writing seeds:
• Essay: 'Practice as Controlled Deviance'—how the Ashtanga system creates a safe container for rule-breaking (skipping vinyasas, modifying poses) that builds systems literacy
• Shala Daily post: 'Why We Don't Celebrate Wins in Practice'—students hit milestones (first bind, steady breath) but immediately move to the next problem without acknowledging progress
• Post: 'Cultural Carcinization on the Mat'—how yoga Instagram has flattened asana into a handful of photogenic shapes, and what that costs practitioners
• Essay: 'Friction as Feature'—why removing obstacles (props, modifications, easier sequences) can paradoxically make practice less generative and more brittle

Idea map:
• Connects to systems literacy: recognizing when a system (practice, culture) has carcinized into a Nash equilibrium and when to introduce intelligent perturbation
• Aligns with practice as method: the fixed sequence is a deliberate friction generator, a controlled environment for discovering what happens when you can't de-friction your way out
• Extends embodiment thinking: prosperity and comfort can narrow the range of physical and attentional states we're willing to inhabit—practice as counter-carcinization
• Resonates with attention work: the flat-Earth problem (signal vs. noise) is the same challenge in practice—distinguishing sensation from story, cue from dogma

Source: https://www.experimental-history.com/p/the-decline-of-deviance-2