What Is Social Contagion? How the Spread of Obesity Is an Example of Social Contagion
Social contagion is the spread of thoughts, emotions, and behaviors from person to person and among larger groups as affected by shared information and mimicry. Paul M. Kirsch, “The Influence of Social Contagion and Technology on Epidemic Non-Suicidal Self-Injury,” 2012. The Spread of Obesity: An Example of Social Contagion Social contagion actually may account for as much, or perhaps, even more of a person’s risk of obesity than genetic and other factors that have been previously studied. Academic research shows that, at least in the American population, and maybe in the international population as well, that we are all connected to one another by six degrees of separation. Your friends’ friends’ friends’ friends’ friends’ friend, for example, is going to include just about everybody in the population. And what we find, remarkably in the study, is that although the average degree of separation between individuals is six, here your influence extends up to three degrees of separation. And so, halfway, pretty much half the distance into the social network, your health behavior is having an impact on other people. –Dr. James Fowler in “Obesity and Social Networks – CBS.” Mindless Eating – Explaining Obesity in Terms of Social Contagion Image: "TransparencyCamp 2012 - #tcamp12 social network graph [1/2]"...
How to Shift from Competitive Individualism to Cooperation for a Greater Good
Cooperation—not competition—underpins innovation. To spur creativity, and to encourage people to come up with original ideas, you need to use the lure of the carrot, not fear of the stick. Cooperation is the architect of creativity throughout evolution, from cells to multicellular creatures to anthills to villages to cities. Without cooperation there can be neither construction nor complexity in evolution. –Martin Nowak with Roger Highfield, SuperCooperators: Altruism, Evolution, and Why We Need Each Other to Succeed. In recent papers, Dr. Martin Nowak has argued that cooperation is one of the three basic principles of evolution. The other two are mutation and selection. On their own, mutation and selection can transform a species, giving rise to new traits like limbs and eyes. But cooperation is essential for life to evolve to a new level of organization. Single-celled protozoa had to cooperate to give rise to the first multicellular animals. Humans had to cooperate for complex societies to emerge. “We see this principle everywhere in evolution where interesting things are happening,” Dr. Nowak said. While cooperation may be central to evolution, however, it poses questions that are not easy to answer. How can competing individuals start to cooperate for the greater good? And how do they continue to cooperate in the face of exploitation? To answer these questions, Dr. Nowak plays games. The B/C>K Equation = When the Benefit-to-Cost (B/C) Ratio of Cooperation Is Greater than the Average Number of People in the Network (K), then Cooperation Emerges As Dr. Nowak developed his neighborhood game model, he realized it would help him study human cooperation. “The reality is that I’m...
Who Else Wants Long Lasting Happiness, to Use Any Dissatisfaction Optimally for the Best Change, and to Know How to Use What Most Affects Happiness?
What Does Lasting Happiness Depend On? Neither Rising Prosperity nor Severe Misfortune Permanently Affect Happiness Research implies that neither rising prosperity nor severe misfortune permanently affect happiness. After a period of adjustment, individuals return to their baseline levels of well-being, leaving humanity on a ‘‘hedonic treadmill’’ (Brickman & Campbell, 1981; Diener, Suh, Lucas, & Smith, 1999; Kahneman, Krueger, Schkade, Schwartz, & Stone, 2004). Similarly, as entire countries become richer, relative gains and losses neutralize each other across populations, bringing no overall increase in the happiness of their citizens (Easterlin, 1974; Kenny, 2004). Neither Individual Efforts nor Social Policy Can Bring Lasting Changes in Happiness Insofar as this set point is biologically determined, neither individual efforts nor social policy can bring lasting changes in happiness. Happiness Depends on Popularly Accepted Social Norms Another explanation for the apparent stability of the aggregate happiness of nations is social comparison theory (Easterlin, 1974, 2003). According to this account, happiness stays the same in the face of rising income because of a shift in reference. If happiness is shaped by one’s relative position in a society, then even if a nation’s overall economy grows, only those with above-average gains will experience rising happiness, and these increases will be offset by decreases among those with below-average gains. –Ronald Inglehart, Roberto Foa, Christopher Peterson, and Christian Welzel, “Development, Freedom, and Rising Happiness A Global Perspective” (1981–2007). The Functions of Happiness and Dissatisfaction Happiness Is Functional and Generally Leads to Success Recent research indicates that happiness is functional and generally leads to success. All Organisms are Motivated to Approach Things that Bring...