Wise Man or Networked Man?

Chimp Troops & Human Wi-Fi

In Welcome to 150 Dunbar Street I made the following statement, “My compass is our intrinsically networked nature.”

This post is to explain what I mean by intrinsically networked nature.

Wise Man

Roughly speaking homo sapien means “wise man”. The inference being wisdom is the defining characteristic of human beings.

We could debate whether mankind is wise, but it is fair to say we are an intelligent species. We acquire and apply knowledge and skills to develop complex tools and societies. I include psychotechnologies such as literacy, numeracy, and meditation as complex tools.

But does wisdom define us and account for our success as a species?

Networked Man

Homo diktyos or “networked man” may be a better description of the human race. An intrinsically networked social being. As we know we are ill-equipped to survive alone.

Today more than ever we are utterly dependent on each other. I for one can’t build shelter, make clothing, hunt or grow food. I can’t even start a fire without tools made by someone else.

Many of our technologies, whether for surviving or for thriving come from, and facilitate distributed cognition (DCog). DCog is the social organisation of, and evolution of, information processing. Basically we don’t even acquire or apply knowledge alone. It’s a collective effort all the way.

But the networks run much deeper, rooted in our biology.

Chimp Troop To Human Tribe

Dunbar’s number of 150 (the number of quality relationships we can maintain) was discovered in 1991. Dunbar was looking at a graph of primate groups sizes and noticed the larger the brain, the larger the group size (social brain hypothesis). Chimpanzee troops max at about 50. Humans about 150 (quality relationships not Facebook friends).

Additionally, more than a dozen neuroimaging studies have shown the size of an individual’s social network correlates with the size of their default mode neural network (DMNN). The DMNN is the neural network that manages social relationships.

A point to return to in a future post is how psychedelics interrupt the DMNN and allow new ways to connect to ourselves, each other, and beyond.

Loving Touch

Our complex neural networks are the reason hugging and physical touch is so important in our relationships. Our touch-based bonding mechanism exploits the brain’s endorphin system. We are biologically, neurologically, and socially networked. We need each other to survive, to thrive, to love and be loved.

Neurons forming a synaptic relationship -University of Kent

Human WiFi

Another 1990s neuroscience discovery was mirror neurons.

Essentially, mirror neurons respond to actions that we observe in others. When we copy what someone else is doing the mirror neurons in our brains fire in the same way as the person we are copying.

This is the basis of learning through imitation, the reason babies copy adults. As we copy actions our brains fire up the circuits that will allow us to perform them in the future.

But there is so much more, mirror neurons facilitate unconscious human networks.

Understanding Intention

When observing something we can easily see WHAT action is being done. Amazingly we can often understand the far more complex question of WHY the action is being done. Our mirror neurons act like a wi-fi network sharing the intentions behind actions. Mirror neurons reveal a powerful aspect of our complex thought process, that is “intention understanding”.

This makes networked man considerably more effective, massively reducing friction in cooperation and collaboration.

Hive Mind

Mirror neurons create a direct link between the sender of a message and its receiver.

By constructing a mental model of the thoughts and intentions of others we can predict their thoughts and actions. This includes intentional behaviour as well as the expression of emotions. This also helps make sense of empathetic sensitivity. I love that we have a mirror system for emotions!

Mirror neurons are activated both when we take action as well as when we observe it.

This unique function of mirror neurons may explain how we recognize and understand the internal states of others.

Homo diktyos

The story of our success is the story of networks.

Our complex neural-networks allow us to function in large social groups (networks). Mirror neurons act like a wi-fi network for emotions, actions, and intentions. Touch-based bonding maintains a physical network.

This also tells the story of both the wisdom and madness of crowds.

We are inescapably connected, cooperative, and collaborative. Our wisdom is a collective effort, and so is our delusion.

We are intrinsically networked by nature.