Overton Windows

When I was a kid, I never wanted to be a typographer or an anthropologist.

While I didn’t really like art, I was interested in lettering. But I never realised that typographer was a job possibility. I didn’t really like geography or sociology or RE either - but I was interested in people and ideas. If anthropology had been an option at school, I would’ve chosen it.

The other day I talked about shifting baselines - how our perception of ‘normal’ changes over time. A related concept is the ‘Overton Window’ - our perception of what is acceptable or possible.

In the centre of the Overton Window - in clear view - are ideas where there is a lot of agreement:
🍷 There is an age restriction on buying alcohol. We know it’s addictive and bad for us when we consume too much - so we don’t sell it to kids.

At the edges of the Window are the ideas we debate:
📱 Should there be an age restriction on social media? It’s addictive and bad for us when we consume too much - maybe we should limit its availability to kids?

And outside the Overton Window are the ideas we don’t really consider:
🥤 Should there be an age restriction on sugary drinks? We know they are addictive and bad for us when we consume too much - is this a conversation we might start having?

We aren’t all looking through the same windows. What is acceptable to me might seem ridiculous to you - and vice versa. I don’t think it’s right that some people have billions while others are starving to death - but I doubt many billionaires would agree with me. Their Overton Window on wealth is completely different to mine.

The same is true for groups - different groups see things in different ways. This happens with everything from the music people like or sports team they support, through to the bigger challenges we face around political polarisation or the climate crisis.

For something to change, our perception of what is possible needs to change first.

🍷 Do you agree with the age restrictions on alcohol?
📱 Would you support similar limits to social media consumption?
🥤 What about sugary drinks?

If you hadn’t considered an age restriction on Coca-Cola and Red Bull before reading this post, then your Overton Window just moved.

That doesn’t mean you agree with the idea - but your perception of what might be possible has changed …