<p>(I cannot quote the book per copyright reminder) People have to change. People must motivate themselves. What are the motivations for people to change?</p>
<p>The following was my essay, written in 24 minutes and unedited.</p>
<p>The saying does, "the only constant is change". In that context, change is neccessary for one's survival. Many things can motivate someone to change, and the most powerful motivation of all is experiencing the effects of resisting change.</p>
<p>In the 50s, the West, and the US in particular, went through a hysteria of communist lynching. The mob took control, led by powerful demagogues against scapeboats like the Rosenbergs. The paranoia was sensess but powerful nonetheless. Principled men and women may not have agreed with the McCarthyist escapade, but they kept their objections to themselves, for they saw the consequences of speaking out. They changed their standard of morality to survival. In the more extreme example, Mr. Rosenberg's brother-in-law falsely testified against them in order to gain leniency for his own family. He, too, changed because he saw the effects of not changing in the Rosenbergs.</p>
<p>A more modern example of change is the music industry's move to sell music online. Since Napster, the original music-sharing service, the different music companies have continually lower sales. Filibuster techniques such as suing prolific file-sharers may vent some anger, but have proven quite useless in improving sales. The slipping sale numbers served as a wake up call, one that forced them to embrace the Devil: selling music online. What was thought of at first as an idiot move (who would pay to download songs when it is free?) turned out be a lifesaver. The only thing that made the industry cling onto this lifesaver was the reality of resisting it.</p>
<p>Change is constant and inevitable; the experience of resisting that inevitability is the most powerful motivation for one to change. Nonethess, all too often humans resist change to the last momment. We can only hope this tendency to resist change will not lead to our downfall.</p>