Society Archives

Social Channel Capacity: 150 Real Relationships Is Your Max

What does “channel capacity” mean? How much information is the brain able to store? What does this mean about the number of relationships we’re able to maintain? Channel capacity is a term in cognitive psychology that says humans have limited space in our brains for certain kinds of information: by and large, we can only remember six or seven things — whether objects, numbers, categories, or sounds — before we get overwhelmed and start to lose track. Similarly, social channel capacity states that we have a limited emotional capacity. We can only maintain deep relationships with a limited number of

Negative Role Models: Why Their Habits Are Contagious

What effect do negative role models have on kids? How do “permission-givers” affect children and teens when it comes to smoking? We’ll explore why negative role models can be so influential. Understanding the mechanisms behind this influence may be the first step toward change.

Environmental Context: Subtle Cues Change Your Behavior

How does our environmental context, the changes in our setting, affect our behavior? Can subtle changes in our environments determine whether or not an idea or product catches on? We’ll cover the science behind how your environmental context affects your behavior and look at a surprising example of the ways subtle changes in our environmental context and affect you.

3 Powerful Tipping Point Examples

In The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell explains how social epidemics — spreading ideas, messages, behaviors, and products — function like viruses, growing gradually until they reach a critical mass (the tipping point) and explode. What are some good tipping-point examples? We’ll look at two powerful tipping-point examples from Gladwell’s book and discuss how epidemics occur in both the medical and social worlds.

Teen Smoking: 2 Solutions to Stop the Epidemic

What are the causes of teenage smoking? How can we prevent teenage smoking? We’ll use the principles of epidemics to explore possible solutions to the problem of teen smoking.

Clean Needle Exchange: A Surprising Outcome in Baltimore

What are clean needle exchanges? Do they work in combatting HIV/AIDS? We’ll cover the effectiveness of clean needle exchanges in Baltimore and look at how they utilize the diffusion model to increase access to clean syringes and lower HIV rates.

What Is a Tipping Point? Why Small Changes Create Epidemics

What is a tipping point? What does “tipping point” mean? How are tipping points related to epidemics? How can you use the theory of tipping points to spread your ideas? A tipping point is a critical moment when a minor change makes all the difference. This is the point at which a movement reaches a boiling point or critical mass and explodes. We’ll cover the meaning of “tipping point” in Malcolm Gladwell’s book The Tipping Point and explore examples that answer the question, What is a tipping point?

Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon: The Origins of an Iconic Game

What is the Kevin Bacon game? How is it played? Where did the game Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon come from? Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon (6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon) is a game in which you attempt to link any Hollywood actor to Kevin Bacon is six steps or fewer. The game came out of the six degrees of separation theory. We’ll cover how to play Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon and what the game says about how we’re all connected.

Information Age: How It’s Changed the Way Trends Catch On

How has the Information Age impacted the way we interact with one another? There undoubtedly many positive consequences. What are the negative outcomes? We’ll cover three ways the Information Age has impacted social epidemics, or the spread of ideas: the rise of isolationism, the rise of immunity, and the issue of finding “mavens,” people to help spread information.

“Band-Aid” Solutions Are Actually the Most Effective Ones

Tipping Points are all about small ways to make significant change. So-called Band-Aid solutions — despite the term’s negative connotations — can actually be the most effective strategies by taking focused, targeted action with the least amount of time, effort, and cost. Using a heavy amount of effort to tackle all aspects of a problem is not always possible or the best use of energy. We’ll cover the analogy of the epidemic, look at a case study of band-aid solutions, and discuss why band-aid solutions are often the best solutions.