Ever wanted to lead a national march for human rights, despite overwhelming resistance and the real risk of violence? Or put a brand-new invention into the hands of billions of people? How about convincing the world that a computer could fit in your pocket, or that strangers would get into cars with people they met through an app?
All of those ideas once sounded impossible. Reckless. Even insane.
They only feel feasible now because they already happened.
Before they became reality, they were just ideas — and not safe, reasonable ones. They were bold, disruptive, and wildly out of step with what everyone else believed was possible at the time.
There’s a long-studied link between creativity and what we casually call “insanity.” Research in psychology has found that highly creative people often display traits associated with divergent thinking, risk-taking, and even mild forms of delusional confidence — the ability to believe in a reality that doesn’t yet exist. In fact, a landmark study published in Frontiers in Psychology found that creative individuals are more likely to hold unusual beliefs and pursue ideas others would dismiss, which allows them to imagine new futures before anyone else can see them.
A powerful real-world example of this is the Civil Rights Movement.
When Martin Luther King Jr. began organizing mass protests and nonviolent marches, many people — even supporters — believed it was unrealistic and dangerous. The idea that millions of Black Americans could peacefully confront segregation, change federal law, and alter the moral direction of a nation seemed delusional. People warned him it would fail. They warned him it would get people killed.
And yet, because someone believed in an impossible future strongly enough to act on it, the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act became reality.
The same pattern shows up in technology, too. When Steve Jobs insisted that people would want a glass rectangle in their pocket to do everything — call, write, browse, listen, create — experts laughed. BlackBerry dominated the market. Keyboards were king. Touchscreens were “impractical.” But Jobs believed in a future no one else could yet see, and the iPhone reshaped the world.
This is why it pays to be a little delusional.
Every meaningful shift in culture, technology, or justice began as an idea that most people thought was unrealistic, irresponsible, or ridiculous. If everyone had listened to the skeptics, we would still be living in a smaller, darker version of the world.
So don’t let someone talk you out of your vision just because it makes them uncomfortable.
We miss out on extraordinary change when the dreamers start listening to the non-believers.