On Social Media, Solitude & Health

This week has been busy. My life – like many of us in the PNW – has been dominated by the hustle to batten down the hatches (both literally and metaphorically) before the return of rainy season.

And, conversely, with the return of shorter days and longer nights I find myself once again spending time comfortably inside & absorbed by a book.

Published this year, Solitude weaves an interesting narrative of human evolution in light of our ever increasing use, fascination with, and reliance on technology.

Early on in the book, the author introduces the “social brain theory” which states that the size of a primate’s neocortex (the part of the brain involved in cognition, sensory perception & language) is directly proportionate to the size of their social group.

This means that the small neocortex tamarins hang out in groups of ten or less…

…while us humans – with our big heads – tend to socialize in groups of 150.

Now, the larger the social group becomes, the more time the members of the group must devote to what is termed “social grooming”: engaging in the healthy display of affections, frustrations, and aggressions.

We need to work it out, so to speak.

You can imagine that our primate relatives do this physically – with literal grooming, touching, sharing food, starting fights, etc.

Us humans, however, have long been using language to metaphorically “groom” each other – and frequently doing so while we multi-task – say, while we walk our dogs or run on the treadmill.

So, why do I bring all this up, you may ask?

Because of the claim that Harris makes early on in the book:

“By this reckoning,” he says, “every piece of communication technology – from the papyrus to the printing press to Pinterest – has hijacked an elemental part of our minds."*

As technology becomes ever more a part of our daily existence, it follows that our digital desires are focused almost exclusively on that technology that helps us feel “groomed by” and “groom” others.

For, these digital displays of social grooming – say via Instagram and Twitter – release very physical dopamine in our very physical brains.

So, what happens when our access to “grooming” and “being groomed” by members of our social group is literally at our fingertips, even when we are physically alone?

Is there a difference in the quality of this digital social grooming?

And if one is able to constantly access such dopamine-releasing social stimulation, might we “over-do” it, choosing to engage in it over other less instantly rewarding activities?

(We do know that what is common among all substance and behavioral addictions is their ability to increase levels of dopamine in our brain.)

As mentioned in my last blog post, I often look to the Huangdi Neijing (or, that foundational medical text of Chinese Medicine) when facing interesting and often unanswerable questions of our modern human existence.

Much of the 2,000 year old text is written in the form of question from student (Qibo) to master (Huangdi).

In its first chapter, Qibo basically asks, “hey Master – I’ve heard that our ancestors lived to a hundred years old without getting sick, yet the people of my time get sick at 50! What’s up with that?”

Although Huangdi’s answer is more extensive, one line & one character in particular feel significant to this discussion.

Huangdi states that part of why modern people do not live out their “Heavenly allotted” one hundred years of life without illness is that**:

以欲竭其精

yǐ yù jié qí jīng

they exhaust their essence through desire

Two characters in this quote deserve some examination.

The first, jing, can be understood as our essence; our “battery” or deep reserve of energy; our genetic material. Jing belongs to the Kidney, to Water, to our inherent nature.

The second, yu, can be understood as desire, appetite, passion – it implies the act of seeking something external to be consumed and taken in, to fill oneself up. Literally within the character yu is the character qian, which means deficiency, lack, wanting. Think consuming from a place of want, of lack.

Huangdi continues that the minds of the ancient people were:

閑而少欲，心安而不懼

xián ér shao yù, xīn ān ér bù jù

at leisure and without desire, their hearts peaceful and without nervousness

Solitude references a recent study that found frequent use of Facebook is proportionate to higher social anxiety and need for social assurance.***

A beautiful part of my education was the understanding that all human behavior – no matter how seemingly pathological or dysfunctional – is an attempt to restore equilibrium and function. It is of great importance to recognize our very real desire and need to be “groomed” by our social group and to examine how we go about fulfilling that need.

And to be reminded (as the passages of the Huangdi Neijing frequently do!) of the very real relationship between our minds and our health.

I welcome your thoughts and comments in the box below!

Until next time!

Arista

*Harris p. 26

**these passages come from Huangdi Neijing Suwen chapter 1, section 1 & 2

*** Harris p. 17