Is life better when we are together?

Issue 39: The unstoppable propensity to clump ourselves together into groups; racial bias on email; and the impact of social identity on addictions

As the holidays dawn, people are faced with a deep human dilemma: should we get together with family and friends or stay home and avoid the risks of catching COVID-19? After nearly two straight years of navigating this difficult choice, the situation has recently been made worse by the rapid rise of the Omicron variant. For many people, this decision hinges on the tradeoff between potential health risks and the value they place on social connection.

We recently did an interview with Jon Mooallem for the New York Times Magazine on our “almost unstoppable propensity to clump ourselves together into groups”. This was part of a special issue dedicated to answer 41 big debates from the past year, including big picture questions like: Is America no longer governable? Can psychedelics cure us? What’s in a Subway tuna fish sandwich? 

The big question relevant to our book was simple: Is life better when we are together? Jon read out book, described our research, and met with Dom to dig deeper in…