Why Our Brains Need A Social Life

As the world seems to grow more transactional, individualist, distrustful, and people spend more time alone behind screens, it’s revelatory to realise how this radically changes our brain and abilities. Research shows that social isolation leads to more social isolation, with the brain reshaping itself: social cues and opportunities become hard to notice, we become suspicious if not paranoid and lose the ability to socialise. “I prefer to be alone”, or “people cannot be trusted”... rings a bell?

This is social atrophy, the shrinking of people’s social brains as they increasingly withdraw from others. A vicious cycle. The bad news is that we may all be experiencing this to some degree without even noticing it. The good news is that we can actively overcome this.

Sarah Stein Lubrano delves into this concept, revealing the data on social atrophy, its sneaky side and the myths surrounding it, and ultimately showing why we need regular social contact to thrive. We need a shared social and political life and only through this kind of shared life can we also begin to do the work of improving the world.

ABOUT The Host
sarah Stein Lubrano is a researcher, author and broadcaster. Her academic research has focused on the role of emotion in political communication, and specifically cognitive dissonance. Lubrano is the head of research for the Future Narratives Lab. For many years she was the head of content at The School of Life, where she is still a content lead. She writes and speaks publicly on a variety of topics. In earlier lives, Lubrano made films and worked as a prison tutor and obituary writer.

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This talk is part of Full Circle pop-up Switch-Off Cafe, to get you into the groove with informative, thought-provoking conversations. Come to discover more.