Time to break out of YOUR BUBBLE
Stuck in a rut? An inspiring new book says meeting those we DISAGREE with can make us happier and more fulfilled
Do You know what an ‘echo chamber’ is? Even if the answer is no, you are almost certainly in one. In fact, you’re probably in many. Echo chambers are everywhere, reflecting your preferences back at you, amplifying your likes and dislikes and reinforcing your perspectives on life — without you even noticing.
Take shopping, for example. You buy a midi-dress, then, for a week, you are surrounded by online adverts for more mididresses. on Facebook, we connect to friends and other like-minded people, which is great. But it also means that we are exposed to people who mirror our perspectives and beliefs, limiting our access to different views.
Then there is the so-called ‘filter bubble’, which describes how Google invisibly personalises our searches, making it more likely that we’ll see more of what we want to see.
These filters make life more convenient and more predictable, but they also shield us from the variety and serendipity that can make it more interesting.
Indeed, research has shown that when we learn to break out of our echo chambers and embrace our inner diversity of opinion and thought, we not only become more creative but also more fulfilled.
This is why I’ve spent the last year writing a book, Rebel Ideas: The Power of Diverse Thinking, on the importance of broadening our minds.
My book highlights the way that echo chambers drag us into their orbit, often without us noticing, thereby limiting our opportunities and constraining our lives. It also offers practical strategies about how to break free.
ECHo chambers are not just about the online world. Consider an experiment led by American psychologist Paul Ingram, where 100 people were invited to an event.
The party took place at 7pm on a Friday evening in a large function room, and the researchers could not have done more to encourage intermingling. In the centre of the room was a large table of hors d’oeuvres, on one side there was a table with pizza and on another was a bar serving wine and soft drinks.
on average, the participants knew about a third of those in the room, but were unknown to the majority. This was a chance to broaden their friendship group. Many of the attendees said in a
pre-mixer survey that their main purpose in attending was to make new acquaintances and friends.
Can you guess what happened? That’s right: the participants created their own real-life echo chambers. Instead of connecting with new people, they gravitated towards the small minority who were already in their network.
The results showed that guests at a ‘mixer’ tend to spend the time talking to the few other guests whom they already know well.
These tendencies reach deep into our history. The phrase ‘birds of a feather flock together’ might bring to mind the sitcom adventures of sisters Sharon and Tracey in Chigwell, but it was written by Plato in 370 BC.
In many cases, echo chambers are nothing to worry about. If you are interested in fashion, you want to join a forum — digital or real — where you can converse with likeminded others. It would undermine your enjoyment if people kept banging on about architecture, football or fitness.
A quick story: I was at a wedding a few years ago and chatting to people I already knew, or people of about the same age. The conversations were enjoyable, but predictable. We talked about our kids, schools, commuting, etc.
I then noticed an elderly man sitting at the edge of the gathering. I decided to approach him. He turned out to be a wonderful soul. He had lived in my home town in his youth and talked about how it had changed. He chatted about his late wife, the secrets to a great marriage and the mistakes he’d made. It was fascinating.
Towards the end of the conversation, he offered this gem: ‘When you’re at any social gathering, chat to the oldest and youngest person there. You will learn more than you ever imagined.’ I replied that this very conversation was ample confirmation of his advice.
Broadening your mind is not just about connecting with people you don’t know, it’s also about new activities. The very act of trying new things seems to fertilise our minds, helping us to see familiar things in a new way.
Indeed, one of the formative experiences of my adult life was joining Toastmasters. This is a network of clubs where people meet to practise their public speaking, which is a useful skill in its own right. But the magical thing about Toastmasters is that it also brings you face-to-face with a diverse set of people you would otherwise be unlikely to meet.
I got to know a retired housewife seeking to build her social confidence, an artist who wanted to speak to audiences about her work and a Spanish guy with a wonderful smile and a love of opera.
After a few weeks at Toastmasters, socialising with the group at the pub was as big an attraction as the club itself.
MuCH of the research on echo chambers revolves around politics, and it is certainly true that engaging with diverse opinions is a sensible thing to do.
Research by Keith Stanovich, professor of applied psychology and human development at the university of Toronto, found that people who listen to those with whom they disagree (not a quality associated with some politicians), are better at coming up with ideas, evaluating arguments and spotting fake news.
The point isn’t that listening to opponents will change your mind, but that your opinions will become wiser and more nuanced.
Yet embracing a disparate spread of opinions is about so much more than politics. It is about creativity, about new experiences, about the spice of new friendships. Why not reconnect
with that old school friend or work colleague? Why not get in touch with the school gate mum who moved away from the area? Why not join a social group that you had been considering but was worried you wouldn’t fit in?
I am not suggesting that diversity is a panacea for work or life, but it can help in many ways, both subtle and profound. As the old proverb wisely puts it: ‘Variety is the spice of life.’
ESCAPE YOUR ECHO CHAMBER
1 EVERY now and again, look at the other side of an argument. Don’t just read the opinion of someone you disagree with, but do so with an open mind. They may not change what you think, but your own views will become more nuanced and rounded. 2 GET in touch with one or two ‘dormant’ contacts. In an experiment carried out in the U.S., 200 people were asked to reactivate contacts they hadn’t talked to for at least three years. The subjects asked two of these contacts for advice. They were then asked to rate its value compared with reaching out to two more familiar people.
The dormant ties offered advice that was far higher in value. Why? Precisely because they were dormant, these contacts were not operating in the same circles and were hearing about new opportunities and ideas. 3 HAVE a giving attitude. People who give to others, who don’t always seek to extract benefits from others, tend to create more diverse friendship groups. This can pay huge dividends, since it creates a wider variety of ‘dormant ties’ (see above).
As American psychologist Adam Grant puts it: ‘According to conventional wisdom, successful people have three things in common: motivation, ability and opportunity...[but] success also depends on how we approach our interactions. Do we try to claim as much value as we can, or do we contribute value? These choices have staggering consequences.’ 4 REAL life is your friend. Why not have a social media detox and go to the shops instead of buying everything online? No algorithms can track you when you are out on the High Street (or, at least, not as intrusively), let alone stalk you with personalised advertising. And while out there in the real world, with an open mind, you may have a chance chat that lifts your day. 5 WHY not try online dating, which is a great way of meeting new people you would never have met before (and may never wish to meet again!).
Rebel Ideas: The Power Of Diverse Thinking, by Matthew Syed, is published on September 10 by John Murray Press at £20.