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The Biochemistry of Tribalism
Last month, we heard a radio interview with Brooks Jackson, one of the directors of FactCheck.org. He's also the co-author of a new book (unSpun: Finding Facts in a World of
Disinformation), and toward the end of the interview he mentioned some research at Emory University that touches on the very intimate realities of human communities.
The researchers hooked test subjects up for brain scans, so they could monitor how they reacted to certain bits of news. These were politically partisan folks, both Republicans and Democrats.
Once wired, they told the subjects two things in sequence. The first bit of news was that their favored candidate had been caught doing or saying something dishonest. After the subjects had time to work
up their own justifications, they were provided with an escape hatch to explain the situation. So their candidate was first placed in jeopardy, and then let off the hook. The brain scans showed that the
bad news triggered a kind of flight or fight response, along with feelings of sadness. The good news lit up the same pleasure centers that are associated with drug use.
The parts of the brain
associated with conscious reasoning? Apparently not involved, when the tribe is threatened.
Mapping with a Free Mind
The place where the logical meets the visual is one of the major intersections along Knowledge
Street, and that often leads us to a something known as a mind map. It's a way of taking a core idea and breaking it into component
parts, which can themselves be broken into smaller and smaller elements. There are no rules about what can be included, so mind maps can be very free form and very personal. Since they're non-linear,
they can be useful tools for brainstorming. They're also pretty good for arranging research notes, breaking down processes or just organizing complex projects.
You can draw them by hand, of
course, and you may have seen people taking notes this way -- pages of loops and arrows and idiosyncratic notations that make inferences, indicate action steps or perhaps suggest links to outside
references. However, a hand-drawn mind map is not without its shortcomings when it comes to permanence and portability. With a mind map tool, you can browse a map, search it, open and close different
sections and continually enhance the content. There are also network-based, multi-user mind maps, which can support ongoing collaborative activity.
Some of these tools are pretty pricey -- VisualMind Business Edition is over $2,000 for ten users -- but there's a pretty good one available for free. It's called FreeMind, and you download a copy from SourceForge, the open
source development site. If you're interested in mind mapping and are willing to put in some learning time, this would be worth a test drive. Also note that in the Public Maps area, there's a sample mind map for Knowledge Management. You may not agree with its conceptual underpinnings, but it will give you an idea of how mind mapping might work for you.
A Personal Trainer in Your Pocket
Earlier this year, Nike and Apple introduced something called a "Sports
Kit." It's a sensor that slips into a special pocket in the insole of Nike+ shoes, which can talk to a wireless receiver that plugs into the docking port of an iPod nano. As you walk or run,
you listen to music and keep track of time, distance and progress toward your goals. Behind the music, a little voice cheers you on and keeps you going. According to Apple's site, you can also achieve
"seamless, stylish integration," by adding a piece of Nike+ apparel that will hold your iPod nano and receiver. They've got you covered here.
And of course, there's a Web site. Once your iPod is docked, it can upload your stats so you can share them with other runners, set your own distance challenges,
trade running stories and participate in virtual marathons. There's a sold-out Women's Half Marathon coming up in San Francisco this October, and through this site, other runners can participate by
running in their own backyards. It's a benefit for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
Now this just may be a cynical, if savvy
campaign to sell shoes and iPods, but most of those folks in the site's Discussion Forum sound pretty genuine. Either way, it's one of those things that gives you pause. Computers in your shoes...we
didn't see that coming.
A Leg To Stand On
Last week, we finished a pro bono web project for a nonprofit organization called A Leg to Stand On. They're based in New York City, and currently support programs in India, Colombia and Haiti. Their special mission is to raise money
for children with limb disabilities, for whom ALTSO helps arrange surgeries, artificial limbs and ongoing rehabilitative treatment.
In the developing world, the loss of a limb carries a serious
social stigma. Given the relatively undeveloped state of the local infrastructure, a limb disability can doom a person to a life of poverty and despair. ALTSO is helping make a difference here, working
in cooperation with in-country medical professionals and supporting the local manufacture of prosthetics. So it's a knowledge transfer story, as well a story about using the Web to raise funds for a good
cause. Are you in a philanthropic mood this week? Why not pay a visit and make a donation -- before you leave for the beach.
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