I was reading an article by David Wong a few days ago where he played with an idea called "the monkeysphere”. What this theory deals with is, that according to brain studies, the size of a monkey’s tribe is defined by the size of its brain. By using those calculations, scientists concluded that human brains had the capacity of recognising around 150 people as three dimensional, fully realised human beings with whom they could have stable social relationships. Those 150 individuals form part of your monkeysphere.
What this implies is that every person whose not part of your monkeysphere is just a background character in your life, a mere reflection of a person. Put simply and in gaming terms, they’re npc’s (non-playable characters), or at least that’s how our brain process them. This is the reason why we’ll throw trash to the ground without thinking twice about it, we don’t care enough about the janitor as a person even though we know he’s gonna have to pick it up later on. It’s the same reason why I’d be devastated if someone close to me dies, but I don’t feel anything when told that millions are dying from starvation in Africa. As its been said countless times, “A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic.” It’s odd, the idea that we can’t function properly as a society because of an evolutionary trait designed specifically for prehistoric tribes to function properly. Oh the irony. After spending hours upon hours scattered all over the week meditating on this idea, I’ve come to conclude, that as a person who’s able to understand what the monkeysphere is, I can move past it. No, I won’t be able to take into account every single death nor I want to. The goal is to be more mindful about others, regardless of who they are or what their place is on the monkeysphere. One of my favourite films of 2015, Anomalisa, had a quote which perfectly encapsulated the message I’m attempting to transmit and why it’s important. "Just like you. Each person you speak to has had a day. Some days have been good, some bad, but they’ve all had one. Each person you speak to has had a childhood. Each have a body. Each body aches. What is it to be human? What is it to ache? What is is to be alive?"
2 Comments
Camila
12/4/2016 08:35:42 am
Cristobal, I think that the idea of this blog post is thought very well. Your introduction is the key point of it because if the reader does not understand the intro, then he or she won't understand what you are writing next. So, I think that you should make the idea of the monkey sphere at the end of the first paragraph a little bit more clear. You write this: "By using those calculations, scientists concluded that human brains had the capacity of recognising around 150 people as three dimensional, fully realised human beings with whom they could have stable social relationships." I get the idea but I think that when you say three dimensional, I get lost a bit. Maybe just say "... had the capacity of recognizing around 150 people as REAL people", or something like this. I like how you give the example of the janitor and the people you don't know dying, it makes the reader understand more the topic. The quote that you end your blog post with, summarizes your reflection of recognizing others more often since we are all humans. Something really important that you are missing in your blog post that's very least, is give it more voice! Maybe in some parts use exclamation marks or talk to yourself sometimes. After all, you did a really good job in this blog post!!
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Bon
24/4/2016 03:30:05 pm
This is a thought-provoking topic, Cristobal. We know this about the monkeysphere, but we also know that our brain can be wired to have empathy. I wonder if there's a way of connecting the two, being able to empathize for the "non-playable characters. " Some people have managed to do so; they have managed to get out of the monkeysphere and devote their lives to helping the others. When does that switch go on? Thanks for sharing this. It still has me thinking.
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