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THREAD: Ok, I’ve been batting around an idea for combating disinformation/division based on my field of social/affective neuroscience. Rather than leave it scattered in notes for my kids to spill milk on, @AshaRangappa_’s #SpeakToStrangers thread seems like a sign so here goes:
My hope is that what follows may be useful in convincing us to look each other in the eye and take up Asha’s #SpeakToStrangers challenge. #SpeakToStrangers is definitely hokey, but it’s “walk the mall” hokey; I think it will work as long as we get the heart rate up a few beats.
As a neuroscientist, I think of #SpeakToStrangers as a workout for the brain functions that we need to beat disinformation. Why might face-to-face social interactions work out these important brain functions?
tl;dr (1) Social interaction is challenging. (2) The “social brain network” handles it, and (3) keeps you focused on what’s important, helps you make good choices, & connects you to other people. (4) #SpeakToStrangers exercises this network to build resilience to disinformation.
(1) Social interaction is challenging! Figuring out how to behave, think, and feel during a face-to-face social interaction is hard! A conversation with a best friend may seem easy, but it’s complicated (those with social anxiety or autism spectrum disorder know this well).
Your brain is in full gear monitoring facial movements, posture, eyes, words, tone of voice, pulling up memories of past things they told you, and figuring out how to respond.
Imagine after a long day, asking your partner why they keep leaving dirty dishes next to the sink. (Or if you’re like me, imagine them asking you that question.) How do you phrase the question? What does that frown in response mean? Was that a side-eye or a sleepy-eye?
What about the social challenge of a first date? Or the challenge of #SpeakToStrangers? Computers can crush humans at chess, but wouldn’t last long in a conversation with a best friend, on a first date, or in #SpeakToStrangers--because social interaction is challenging.
(2) The brain has a “social brain network” to handle that. A brain network is different brain areas that work together to do complex things, like different muscles working together to perform complex movements. Engaging in social interaction is yoga for the social brain network.
The social brain network does important things to help you navigate social situations, like: reading facial expressions, choosing who to pay attention to, who to ignore, and who to trust, and overriding impulses (refresh twitter) for bigger goals (write thread nobody will read).
We take it for granted that our brains do all of these things much like we take walking and running for granted, but we shouldn’t take it for granted: the social brain network devotes significant resources to handling complex social interactions.
And just like we need to keep our bodies active to keep on walking and running, we need to keep the social brain network active to maintain our ability to navigate complex social situations.
(3) Critically, working out the social brain network exercises many of the same brain functions needed to inoculate yourself to disinformation and division, such as directing your attention to important information and using that information to make good choices. For example:
(3a) Face-to-face contact engages the brain network used for directing your attention to the most important information in the environment. This network shapes what you pay attention to--and what you ignore--based on your goals and values.
(3b) Face-to-face contact engages the brain network that uses “gut feelings” to help you do the right thing and make good long-term decisions in complex, uncertain, and ambiguous situations.
This network uses your gut feelings and emotions to shape your choices, so that your behavior is not only influenced by immediate wants and needs, but also by your bigger goals and values, and what will be good in the long run (even if you can’t fully articulate why).
(3c) Face-to-face contact engages the brain network used for connecting with others and understanding what they’re thinking and feeling. This network helps you understand other people’s intentions, assess their (un)trustworthiness, and empathize with them.
(3x) Paying attention to what’s important, ignoring what’s not, following your gut, and connecting with other people all seem important for resisting authoritarian campaigns of disinformation and division!
3 P.S. - Atypical functioning in the social brain network network is seen when people are on high alert for threat, ignore important social cues, have an increased preference for authoritarianism, and are vulnerable to false advertising.
(4) In sum, I think #SpeakToStrangers will exercise our brains so that we can be lean, mean, anti-disinformation and anti-division machines.
For this to work, we need to get our heart rates up a few beats. So rather than more familiar/comfortable social interactions, #SpeakToStrangers is the workout we need because (like a disinformation campaign) it forces us to navigate uncertainty and ambiguity.
Closing #SpeakToStrangers anecdote: On a group bike ride last night I tossed some small talk to the rider next to me, but I didn’t know if his eyebrow was always raised, or just raised in response to me, or...oh, he had headphones on and didn’t even hear me. Good workout!
