I was listening to an interview with an establishment politician not long ago. Seventy-nine years old, talking through the issues of the day. And I noticed something: she never actually answered a question. Not once. Every response was a talking point — polished, safe, clearly built to survive a focus group rather than persuade an actual person.
It was exasperating. And it got me thinking about a word: calcified.
Bone calcifies when it stops adapting — when the tissue that was once flexible hardens into something rigid and, eventually, brittle. I think a lot of institutions do the same thing. So do people. So do brands. You spend enough years being told exactly what to say and how to say it, and the muscle for saying something real just atrophies. What’s left is technically correct and completely lifeless.
