Agency and coordination are in tension.

The desire to do precisely what you want and the desire to coordinate with each other are in tension.

Here coordinate means do a thing compatible with others.

The power of coordination has network effects that dominate as it gets momentum.

The more people you could plausibly collaborate with, the more the pull towards coordination will dominate.

You can do anything you want… if you live on an island and never interact with anyone.

We can do far more collectively than each of us could do individually.