How social contagions reach critical mass, part 3, right environment

Sorry about being a day late. I was in a short trip on monday and yesterday.

Before reading this, you should read the first and the second part of how social contagions reach critical mass.

I have written about the messengers and messages and what I still have left is the environment, in which, the messengers can deliver the messages. It is quite easy to compose a sticky message and find a messenger to deliver the message compared to manipulating the environment that spreads the message. To be honest, for me the manipulating of the environment part is almost impossible and possibly to the other people too. When the environment is right, reaching the criticcritical mass happens very fast. For example, one suicide triggered the Arab Spring. The reason that happened was the underlying conditions in people´s minds.

Epidemics are sensitive to the conditions and circumstances of the times and places in which they occur. Engaging some kind of behavior is coming more from the certain environment than from other people. You constantly underestimate the role of the environment and other people in how you behave. The reason for this is that you overestimate your ability to make decisions through your rational part of the brain. This means that your inner states are the results of your environment more than you think. When the underlying context around you is right, the small push is enough. Most often, you can control your environment well, but when the timing and the environment is right, even the small changes are enough. For example, having first a zero tolerance for crime and then allowing exceptions like braking some windows or letting people travel in metro without paying the ticket will encourage people to do bigger crimes.

There is another way to launch an epidemic and it is through small and solid groups of people. As a partner of these groups we are subjected to social proof. According to anhtropologist Robin Dunbar the maximum amount of people in a solid and homogenous group is 150 people. Dunbar has researched humans and other primates. Dunbar came in the conclusion that the size of the frontal lobe is the conclusive feature. And this allows the magic number of 150 to be the capacity of following other people. In the bigger groups, people are grouping into smaller groups that are having different opinions about things. Spreading messages is more efficient, when the group size do not reach over 150 people. Building communities should happen this way. When the size gets too big, you should split the group in two and let it grow until 150 members is reached.

Creating a right environment

Creting the right environment is hard. In theory, it can be done by designing an environment in which many psychological tendencies move people to the same direction. There are some environments like this. For example, cults. I am not saying you should build a cult, but you can learn from them. You should definitely be aware of their possible effect on you.

In a cult, there is a restricted availability of contrary stimuli compared to its message. To create a contageous environment, you have to maximize the availability of your message and minimize the availability of contrasting messages. You can use the help of the significant few to do this. Connectors, experts and salesmen can help you to do this. In a cult, there is usually a charismatic authority figure. Most often they are men. This authority is usually a great salesman. Salesmen can convince connectors and experts to speak on their behalf. Social proof is established by these people. Cults have usually relatively small amount of followers. They are tightly-knit groups. It is hard to have unity, when there are many people. You should spread your message through groups that have a maximum amount of 150 people. Links between these groups could be connectors.

Critical mass of social contagions in short.

Lets finish this talk by adding a summary of critical mass in social contagions in the end. To achieve a critical mass for an epidemic, you need to have messengers who can spread the information really effectively, you need to also have a sticky messages for the messengers to spread and last but not least the environment needs to be completely right with the right timing and the result will be an epidemic that spreads quickly. That is all I have to say this time.

- TT