The Social Animal

The Social Animal weaves social science research into the story of a fictional couple to shed light on the decision-making power of our unconscious minds.

Harold’s high school English teacher Ms. Taylor pressed a copy of The Greek Way by Edith Hamilton into his hand. “This will lift you to greatness,” she said. Harold read the slim book and felt connected to something ancient and profound. He was hooked by curiosity – the first step in the process of deep learning.

Ms. Taylor then encouraged Harold’s quest for knowledge about ancient Greece even further. She instructed him to find and read five more books on the subject. Upon completion, she praised Harold for his hard work. Researcher Carol Dweck has found that when you acknowledge hard work over natural ability, people are encouraged to put in more effort.

To automatize his new knowledge, Ms. Taylor then told Harold to review everything he’d read so far. After passing the first time through new material, we must then think about every detail. With each next iteration, information becomes more familiar and automatic. Think about the first time you drove a car, and how little conscious thought you need to do it today.

Finally, Ms. Taylor asked Harold to journal about what he learned, a practice in which he’d mix his thoughts on Greek life his own. After a long period of looking at the material from different angles, Ms. Taylor believed Harold’s mind was now ready to compose a well-crafted paper on the subject.

This is the ideal process of learning. You explore something and, as you repeatedly touch the subject, you connect it to other dots in life.

Erica’s early education experiences were quite different from Harold’s. She bounced from one school to another as her single mother fell in and out of employment. From month to month, the pair fluctuated between a middle-class suburban life and sleeping on the floors of relatives in the inner city. When Erica was in eighth grade at a public school, she discovered an experimental education academy. The academy founder wanted to fight emerging poverty by introducing low-class children to an environment that fostered an achievement ethos. Young Erica did not understand the psychology or sociology behind this idea, but she recognized that she couldn’t improve herself without changing her daily influences. Admission was based on a lottery, but a determined Erica decided she was getting in either way. Every time she looked into the mirror, she repeated her motto, “I am strong.” Erica managed to get admitted by sneaking into the Academy and presenting her case to the board. By changing her environment for the better, Erica changed the big picture course of her…