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are you a producer or a consumer?

do you act or are you acted upon?

are you the influencer or the influenced?

the answer is yes to all of the above. but let’s examine the latter half of each dichotomy.

you are a consumer. 

the fact that you’re reading these words on your device proves it.

like all intelligent beings, we humans are information gluttons. in our evolutionary past, missing the wrong cue could cost survival or reproduction. that’s why:

“People seem to be especially attentive to evolutionarily relevant stimuli, including food, fire, dangerous animals, violence, disease, kinship, sex, infidelity, babies, friendship, free riders, status, and group membership.”

—Steve Stewart-Williams, The Ape that Understood the Universe

you are acted upon.

in addition to content biases (what we have evolved to notice), we also have context biases. who is delivering the information matters as much as what it is.

a scenic photo? scroll.

but a photo with a person in it—especially someone you know or value—and you pause.

that’s influence.

you are influenced.

and like the force of gravity, its magnitude depends on two things: value (how much I matter to you), and distance (how close we are in your social network).

check out this video for a deeper dive: https://youtu.be/qkAty2Ea4i4

if you’ve read this far, chances are you’re not a random stranger. but if you are—welcome.

you can subscribe to the Anthroponautics Daily Digest at anthroponautics.com to learn more.

more likely, you already consider me valuable and/or we’re closely connected.

if that’s true: thank you. i’m glad you’re here.

Colin

p.s. as a gesture of gratitude, i’m opening three one-hour sessions this week. you can book one, two, or all three—use them however you want. but once the hours are gone, they’re gone.

reply with “thank you” to claim yours.