“We were able to examine how in very fundamental ways, human beings can act like flocks of birds or stampeding buffalo,’’ Dr. Nicholas Christakis says of his research.
(Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff)
DR. NICHOLAS CHRISTAKIS | G Force
Making the connections
“We were able to examine how in very fundamental ways, human beings can act like flocks of birds or stampeding buffalo,’’ Dr. Nicholas Christakis says of his research.
(Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff)
When your sister’s friend’s husband comes down with the flu, it may be only a matter of time before it wends its way to you. But germs aren’t the only things that are infectious: Happiness, obesity, and quitting smoking also spread through social networks, according to research by Harvard physician and professor Dr. Nicholas Christakis and political science professor James Fowler of the University of California, San Diego. We spoke with Christakis about their new book, “Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives.’’ Here is an edited version of our conversation.
CAROLYN Y. JOHNSON
Q. How did you get started on this line of research?
A. I began my clinical years as a hospice doctor. I was studying something known as the “widower effect’’ - the increased probability of the recently bereaved to die. One day I was taking care of a woman dying of Alzheimer’s disease in Chicago. Her daughter was caring for her and her daughter was exhausted from this, and her daughter’s husband was also sort of adversely affected by his wife’s overwhelming obligations to her mother. As I was driving home I got a call from a friend of the husband [concerned about his health] and it suddenly dawned on me, we had a kind of contagion of illness.
Q. What kinds of things are contagious?
A. In the book, “Connected,’’ we examine broad categories of human activity. We look at health, relationships, sex. We look at emotions, political behavior, voting behavior, economic behavior. We kind of cover the important aspects of human activity.
Q. How is this different from just being similar to someone because you share an environment with them, or are drawn to people like you?
A. There are many reasons we observe similar individuals connected to each other. One is just chance . . . [Another is] “birds of a feather flock together.’’ Another possibility is the individuals all share a common exposure. And finally the possibility they’re influencing each other. Separating these four things out requires a lot of fancy statistics. We were able to examine how in very fundamental ways, human beings can act like flocks of birds or stampeding buffalo. It doesn’t make any sense to ask any single buffalo, “Why are you stampeding to the left?’’ He’s being influenced by the whole herd.
Q. So what is the takeaway? Choose your friends carefully?
A. Whether we appreciate it or not, we live out our lives surrounded by an intricate pattern of social connections. . . . We’re all embedded in this network; it affects us profoundly and we may be unaware of its existence, of its effect on us. The second takeaway point is to recognize the influence we can all have on each other - my actions and thoughts and behaviors and feelings influence those around me, just as I’m influenced by those around me.
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