Social networks are powerful determinants of individual and group behavior
(sounds like a gag but it is all true)
Since the late 1980’s we have maintained some contact with the people on the island republic of Nauru. For the last ten years they have been struggling economically. According to the New York Times December 16, 2009, the island has recently had a further dip in its fortunes. Turns out that Nauru, the smallest nation on the globe (population 11,000) had run out of bird manure which was the source of its major export product, phosphates. The economic and psychological life on the island was stressed to the breaking point.
The small island had not developed a resilient social network and so the impact of the economic blow produced by the disappearing bird manure was devastating. In fact the early history of economic success laid the foundation for its demise. It is amazing that in 1970 the Nauru natives were the second-richest people per capita on earth. With wealth came a change in diet from fish and coconuts to fatty foods, soft drinks plus alcohol and tobacco and all that good eating and smoking took time and their active life style disappeared. The islanders didn’t even have to work since outside companies mined the bird guano for them.
As of today they now have the world’s highest rate of heart disease and diabetes and, no surprise, 80% of the island is obese. The disappearance of bird poop, bad investment, change in lifestyle shredded paradise. The remaining social network had huge holes and unreliable ties.
After several years of despair and no collective progress in gaining a new source of revenue a decision was made that changed how the island would function in the future. To obtain revenue Nauru sold diplomatic alliances to the highest bidder. For example they severed diplomatic relations with Taiwan for which they received $ 130 million from China and more recently they recognized the breakaway former Soviet Russian state of Abkhazia and South Ossetia a move that has netted them $50 million from Russia. A history of a simple isolated life style and a strong social network was transformed by effortless and boundless success and this ws followed by rapid catastrophic ecomic failure without the benifit of a strong social network that could protect the island from political corruption and hopelessness.
As you know New Bretten has its own unique history and means of dealing with stress. Chronic stress is contagious disease and the German version of it has a particularly sinister name ‘Verzweiflung’ (German for anxiety gone amok). Just as social networks can promote healthy lifestyles it can also spread despair much like a virus attacking our body or it can also serve as a vaccine that allows a society to work together effectively in the face of adversity. Our communal spirit has served us well and been just one factor that supported our joint efforts and investment in learning about mind-brain science and using that knowledge to solve practical problems which then can be exported around the world.
Mind-brain science knowledge is revealed in a huge variety of sources. We regularly read journals such as Science and Nature but also the Harvard Business Review and Fortune magazine. Recently some of us came across some articles describing the impact of social networks on a wide range of human conditions including everything from happiness, to obesity smoking (and quitting smoking), and also how disabling emotions spread and stop spreading. Another article that made an impression on several of us was about what are conditions for trusting others (and not trusting them). In the October 2009 issue of Fortune magazine Jonah Lehrer (who has written many articles that touch on mind-brain science) wrote an article entitled ‘Buddy’ which describes the powerful role of the affinity groups we belong to influencing our health and happiness. In reviewing the literature Lehrer describes how obesity spreads like a virus through our personal social networks so that for example if one person becomes obese it nearly doubles the likelihood that his friend would become obese, It turns out that happiness and health and all kinds of other lifestyle goodies are also highly contagious based on our social groups. Social networks are really important in shaping how we live. I suppose it helps to have friends and acquaintances that are slim, happy, healthy, and successful. It can rub off on us.
The article also cited what looked like a useful book published in the fall of 2009 by Christakis and Fowler entitled Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives. The authors describe how social networks account for the bad stuff, like unhappiness, smoking, obesity but perhaps there are some pointers on how to use social networks to improve the functioning capacity of those that are part of those networks. For example, it can be useful to use social networks to treat obesity? We have requested a copy of the book and I will report on what we learn after reading it.
In June 2009 Harvard Business Review also published an article on a related theme ……what trust was all about. In that long article it turns out that you can take trust apart and look at its components even down to getting a peek inside the brain on and off trust. For example it turns out that levels of the brain neurochemical oxytocin (a hormone involved when women give birth and nurse) has a powerful effect on both trust and trustworthiness. From a behavioral perspective trust is also enhanced when dealing with someone that looks like you.
More notes about trust and social networks later. We have to do lots more homework.
LAK
Recorded on August 14, 2010
From LAK (3 October, 2010) : Here are some additional notes in response to the posting on social networks by a Max Stessmann, one of the older New Bretteners (who is not part of our mind-brain science consortium). We hesitated adding the note to our earlier posting because the message was political rather than consistent with the theme of the website. Respect for all voices is necessary if we are to apply scientific knowledge to bettering the lives of our community.
It is now ¾ of a century since the Nazi Germany was let loose its deadly fumes engulfing its own people and the rest of the world. If one wants to point to examples of the power of social networks the social/political history of the Third Reich would do nicely.
Social networks made of the like-minded can support the habits of fat smokers but can also provide the social glue and foundations for destructive revolutions. I am concerted about what we hear from across the seas. A large segment of the population in the US and other industrialized countries) have developed strong and shared distrust of both private and public institutions. The public commoners have good reason to distrust financial institutions along with regulators and raters. Industries ranging from drug companies to car manufacturers to oil producers are also seen as experts in deception at the expense of the pubic. The growing evidence that society’s institutions are not trustworthy when coupled with falling wealth and increased economic vulnerably provide the potential basis of social network glue that can have explosive consequences. The condition that existed in Germany in 1930 share many similarities to what we see today in countries like England and the US.
It is now ¾ of a century since the Nazi Germany was let loose on its own people and then the rest of the world. If one wants to point to examples of the power of social networks that would do nicely.
Social networks made of the like-minded can support the habits of fat smokers but can also provide the social glue and foundations for destructive revolutions. I am concerted about what we hear from across the seas. A large segment of the population in the US and other industrialized countries) have developed strong and shared distrust of both private and public institutions. The public commoners have good reason to distrust financial institutions along with regulators and raters. Industries ranging from drug companies to car manufacturers to oil producers are also seen as experts in deception at the expense of the pubic. The growing evidence that society’s institutions are not trustworthy when coupled with falling wealth and increased economic vulnerably provide the potential basis of social network glue that can have explosive consequences. The condition that existed in Germany in 1930 share many similarities to what we see today in countries like England and the US.
I challenge my mind-brain science consortium friends to come up with scientific knowledge and then practical ideas to harness social networks, to make them effective instruments in society? Are their implications that we can draw from our knowledge that can help us shape social networks that promote both individual and communal growth? Likewise do we know enough to prevent social networks from unleashing hate, rage or despair?
Hold on for a moment. One more member of our community wants to put two cents into the commentary pot.
Our resident story teller Bernhardt Werner has been reading on work that examines theories of mind, the kind that we all walk around with, the schemas that we use to interpret our world and the people in it. He pointed out to me that the theories of mind obviously need not be accurate reflections of people or events but serve to maintain a certain kind of order in each of us. Those imagined relationships that we think exists between different characteristics of people among us (sometimes called stereotypes) are also the elements that are tied together in the social networks that we are part of. The imagined relationships of people characteristics may be illusions but nevertheless may be useful in what allows people to stick together even when the going gets tough.
Thanks Bernie
LAK