Mind Games

Motivated by my daughter - a voracious consumer of books - I've started reading again.  By reading, I mean actually holding a book, turning the pages, and attempting to process the information without falling asleep.

I used to read more but got pulled away by, among other things, the smartphone.  I now try to read after the first cup of java in the morning and before turning out the lights at night, which is a far superior soporific to mindless scrolling.

I prefer non-fiction books on sports, music, popular culture, or science.  I am currently reading Subliminal: How Your Unconscious Mind Rules Your Behavior by Leonard Mlodinow. 

I actually bought the book in 2013, and it sat on the shelf until recently.  I may have been unconsciously avoiding it.

Mlodinow, a theoretical physicist and mathematician, posits that our subconscious minds have more influence on our behavior than we fully understand.  This arrangement is needed, he says, because as humans we are continually flooded with information and would be completely overwhelmed without the subconscious mind running interference and handling the small details.

Further, he claims that our superior human intelligence evolved as a result of our need for social interaction.  That is, "social cooperation and the social intelligence it requires seem to have been crucial to our survival."

Mlodinow cites as examples the large-scale cooperation and diverse skill sets needed to build a car (facilities, design, raw materials, assembly, etc.) or just to brew a cup of coffee.  

Another human endeavor that requires a high degree of cooperation is the internet.  But I submit that it is that very same internet that is now destroying social cooperation.

It starts innocently enough with the "One Must Go Forever" posts.  These are done in the spirit of fun, but they are not-so-subtly directing the viewer to make a polarizing choice.  And we willingly play along!  Why must one go?

And then there are the posts that instruct the viewer to choose one musician or band over another one.  Ronnie James Dio or Frank Sinatra?  Fleetwood Mac or Metallica?  Of course, you may prefer one over the other, but why must we choose?

Politics, however, is the least socially cooperative subject of all.  Today we have vaxers vs. anti-vaxers, maskers vs. anti-maskers, Sith vs. Jedi, and on and on and on.  I've stopped watching the news and I avoid politics when I am online. The energy spent bickering on social media would be better spent on exercise, reading, or helping others. Like Frankenstein's monster, the creation will eventually destroy its creator.

So the next time you feel the need to call somebody out online, put the phone down and demonstrate your social intelligence by picking up a book instead.  If you're not careful, you might learn something.