Impact of social networks on behavior

[Peter Howie]

Dear Adam and Steve,

Similar to you Adam I found a few things to pique my interest. Quite an 
overlap but with a different focus.


>Taken together, these studies and others are fueling a growing recognition 
>that many behaviors are swayed by social networks in ways that have not 
>been fully understood. And it may be possible, the researchers say, to 
>harness the power of these networks for many purposes, such as encouraging 
>safe sex, getting more people to exercise or even fighting crime. (my 
>highlight)

Philosophically this article is again presenting the rather tired old idea 
that comes from the positivist tradition that has led to such philosophical 
abominations (at least to me) as Human Resources and other inhuman 
relegations of people to defined functions for which we only need to find 
the right levers and all will be well.

>"What all these studies do is force us to start to kind of rethink our 
>mental model of how we behave," said Duncan Watts, a 
><http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Columbia+University?tid=informline>Columbia 
>University sociologist. "Public policy in general treats people as if they 
>are sort of atomized individuals and puts policies in place to try to get 
>them to stop smoking, eat right, start exercising or make better decisions 
>about retirement, et cetera. What we see in this research is that we are 
>missing a lot of what is happening if we think only that way."

Adam rather than think sociometry - how about the basic Morenian idea (at 
least this is where I learned it) that we are part of a matrix of 
relationships and our psyche is also part of this web of relationships 
rather than only within my head?. Rather than sociometry of individuals and 
hence looking at the strands of tele from one individual to another - 
seeing that each individual is part of a web of telic relationships and 
that the psyche rests in these.

Peer groups rule - is another maxim I follow.

Cheers

Peter in Brisbane 
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