#7 Contagious beliefs

How our behaviour affects others

Ezra Klein on veganism:

I don’t think my personal decision to not eat meat is that important. On the scale of the global animal trade, it’s meaningless. But I caught my veganism from my wife. Other people have caught veganism or vegetarianism from me. And it’s in that way that individual attitudes ladder up to social attitudes, and then to social and political change.

The way you behave influences those around you, whether from ideas, words, or actions.

Klein, again:

The way I try to think about this is, don’t think about consumption — even your consumption — as individual. Think of yourself as a node for social, political and moral contagion.

I love this framing because it reminds us of our agency. Everything you say or do has a chance of influencing someone else. You can help certain values propagate by replicating that behaviour, and you can also help prevent other ideas from spreading by refusing to perpetuate them.

At the same time, you’ve been “infected” by the behaviour of others. Those behaviours may not be helpful. Your upbringing may have infected you with values and beliefs that simply do not serve you.

If so… then it’s time to cure yourself, to shed those maladaptive ideas. But like a real infection, that takes time and effort.

Generational trauma is like a contagion that’s been passed down from parent to child, over and over. It’s hard to cure that kind of thing, but it can be done. It can be accomplished by limiting your exposure to old harmful beliefs, and replacing them with something more energizing.

But it’s not just for you. It’s never just for you. It’s for everyone around you.