And even stranger, the laughter was spreading. Like a virus.
This was at an all-girls school in Kashasha, Tanzania. A few students had started laughing and they couldn’t stop. And this inexplicable behavior spread from girl to girl until 95 of the 159 students were affected. After 6 weeks the school had to close because of it. But that didn’t stop the laughter.
It had already spread to a neighboring village, Nshamba. 217 more girls afflicted. And then it spread to Bukoba, “infecting” 48 more girls.
All told this “outbreak” lasted 18 months, closed 14 schools, and affected over 1000 children.
Sound crazy? It’s true. While certainly uncommon, this kind of thing is not unheard of. During the Middle Ages there were outbreaks of “choreomania” – uncontrollable, infectious dancing that spread throughout Europe sometimes affecting tens of thousands of people at a time. And, no, I’m not making that up either.
Viruses aren’t the only things that spread through networks of people. Attitudes and behaviors do too. Yale professor Nicholas Christakis, MD, PhD, MPH, has studied how this works. A network can perpetuate anything in it: not just fads, fashion, and trends, but happiness, unhappiness, kindness and cruelty can also spread like a disease. When I spoke to Nicholas, here’s what he told me:
We’ve shown that altruistic behavior ripples through networks and so does meanness. Networks will magnify whatever they are seeded with. They will magnify Ebola and fascism and unhappiness and violence, but also they will magnify love and altruism and happiness and information.
A happy friend increases the likelihood of you being happy by 9%. An unhappy friend means a 7% decrease. Yes, happiness is more contagious than unhappiness. It’s the scientific version of karma. With the effect spanning out three degrees, there’s a good chance making a small effort to make friends happier will flow back to you. Nicholas found that if a friend became happy in the past six months there’s a 45% chance your happiness will increase. Neato, huh? (continues)
James Watson, the misanthropic half of the dynamic DNA duo Watson & Crick, wrote a book called "Avoid Boring People." I think the better instruction is to avoid unhappy people, to the extent you can. And if you can't, don't let their morosity infect you. Start a viral contagion of kindness and cheer, research like this shows it really does catch on.
ReplyDeleteI read about the whole choreomania thingy online a few years ago, but I never read to much into it. To be honest, you never know what you can believe on the internet.
ReplyDeleteWhat's interesting about this coronavirus pandemic is the variations in the way others act. After receiving an email from campus saying that we should take walks during this time, My roommste and I decided to travel (via bike and rollerblades) around campus and see how deserted it was. While we were there, we only ran into about 10 people doing various jobs around campus and we would wave and chat from a far. I realized from this that small acts of kindness and conversation can go a long way during all this craziness. A simple wave, a smile, any interaction can really brighten people's days during this isolation.
I've been on some sites meant for entertainment purposes, think tik tok if you're familiar with it (similar sites) and have seen some inspirational videos of people helping others in this time of need. One video I crossed had me at ends thinking when a man visited their grandmother to drop off a care package but had forgotten to film it and said that it was a waste of time.It made me wonder how many of the videos I had seen had been simply for views and I became a bit upset thinking on it. But then I wondered if the videos (the ones that didn't betray their true intents should they have been ill-made) were still a good influence on the public watching them, if those manipulated acts of kindness were still a good influence when the intent was assumed to be only for good.
ReplyDeleteIf the influence on those watching inspires them to do acts of kindness themself, I think not-- Maybe Nietzsche's getting to me.
I get this feeling sometimes. Like, it's annoying to watch people do the "right thing" for attention, but sometimes that encourages other people to also do the right thing.
ReplyDeleteSo my company is closed during the pandemic, which I'm grateful for. And they decided to pay us while we're out of work for our average hours, which is amazing and I'm so grateful.
However...when they announced on social media that they would be closing, they put in all caps, right there, WE ARE PAYING OUR WORKERS WHILE WE ARE SHUT DOWN. part of me was like, bruh, why is that necessary? but that doesn't diminish the fact that they are helping us stay afloat. and maybe they will apply for a stimulus for not closing; maybe it will help their business in the long run because people will remember that and want to support them instead of other less charitable companies. but even if that is the case, i will still benefit, possibly more so because more money for them translates to more hours and more tips for me, heck, maybe even a raise.
it's strange looking at philanthropy as both a social good and way to get a pat on the back...but i'd rather see someone get patted on the back for the sake of their ego than see philanthropy disappear.
good reflections for difficult times.
I remember my grandmother and mother telling me "You are who you hang around." I didn't really believe them because in my ten year old mind I had mostly white friend and my skin didn't change from black to white It wasn't until now that I realized what they were saying. I hang out with my friends and when they gossip and are being negative, I find myself falling into the mix even though I didn't really want to.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with the postive energy being more influential than the negative energy because it seems like unhappiness spread fasters. Misery loves company , so does that mean happiness is a loner.
In the long run I do think positivity has the greater influence, but we have to accept that we won't see it in full flower because we won't be here for the long run. But if we act positively in good faith, our descendants will. And they'll be grateful. Aren't we grateful for the ancestors whose sacrifices have enabled our lives?
DeleteThis is so interesting! It is so important to be aware of our own "ripple effect" in the world. The coronavirus pandemic is a reminder of how connected our actions are to one another (whether or not we stay home, wash our hands, etc). Our actions make an impact, for better or for worse. But we tend to forget how much of an impact our attitudes have too. This is a reminder to me to be more positive and spread more joy, especially right now.
ReplyDeleteRight. And we have to accept, as I was saying to Debria, that we won't experience all of those positive ripples directly ourselves. But it sure is nice contemplating them!
DeleteThis reminded me somewhat of the sentiment "you are who you hang around". Because the last section about the increase in happiness and decrease in happiness I have found to be true. When I was in high school I had an extremely negative group of friends and I was an extremely negative person. Now that I am in college I have extremely happy and supportive friends and it has made me a happier person. It's crazy how much a mindset is contagious, just like viruses
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