Having a Spine in a World of Jellyfish

Today, your social media feed is likely full of Martin Luther King Jr. quotes posted by people who would have hated him in 1963.

We love the “I Have a Dream” speech because it sounds like a lullaby. It makes us feel warm. We ignore the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” because it reads like an indictment. It makes us feel exposed.

We have turned Dr. King into a mascot for peace, stripping him of his radical edge. We forget that he wasn’t just a preacher; he was a disrupter.

He was a man with a spine in a world of jellyfish. And as he learned, having a spine can be costly.

The Jellyfish Default

In biology, a jellyfish is a successful creature because it requires zero energy to navigate. It has no structure. It survives by going exactly where the water pushes it. If the current shifts left, it goes left. It never argues with the ocean.

Most of us are social jellyfish.

We nod in meetings when we disagree because we don’t want to disrupt the vibe. We laugh at jokes that aren’t funny. We stay silent when we see bullying because we fear social isolation.

This isn’t just a character flaw; it is biological wiring.

In the 1950s, Solomon Asch conducted a famous series of experiments on conformity. He found that seventy-five percent of people would agree with an obvious lie (saying a short line was longer than a long line) just because everyone else in the room did.

Our brains are wired to prioritize safety over truth. When you go against the group, your amygdala screams that you are in danger. Conformity is the path of least resistance. It is the jellyfish setting.

Silence Is Betrayal

In 1967, King gave a speech at Riverside Church opposing the Vietnam War. He knew it would cost him allies. He knew it would cost him funding.

He did it anyway, famously stating, “There comes a time when silence is betrayal.”

He wasn’t talking about betraying the cause. He was talking about betraying yourself.

Every time you act like a jellyfish, every time you stay silent to stay safe, you dissolve a little bit of your own character. You maximize your safety, but you sacrifice your solidity. You become easier to get along with, but impossible to rely on.

The One Degree Shift

You are not going to become Martin Luther King Jr. overnight. The metabolic cost of that kind of courage is too high for a cold start.

But you can stop floating.

Courage is a muscle, not a personality trait. You build it with reps.

Find one place this week where you are drifting.

• Is it the coworker everyone gossips about? The Drift: Join in. The Spine: Change the subject.
• Is it the project you know is doomed? The Drift: Keep working on it to avoid conflict. The Spine: Raise your hand and ask the hard question.

Be a Vertebrate

The world has enough people drifting with the tide. We are drowning in people who go wherever the current takes them.

We need more people who can stand in the waves.

Happy MLK Day. Now go stand for something.