“[Theoretically] well behaved, surely less human”.

If you live in this age…

…which you obviously are, otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this post:

• You may not get that dream job if your data suggests you’re not a very positive person.
• If you are a woman, you may see fewer ads for high paying jobs.
• If you have “bad friends” on social media you might pay more for your loan.
• Tinder’s algorithms might not show you attractive people if you are not desirable yourself.
• You may be profiled, to try and dissuade you from voting.
• Your health insurer may collect intimate data about your lifestyle, race and more.

This creates Social Cooling

Social Cooling, which is explained in much more detail in the homonymous website that I urge you to use, is what happens to society when people actively change their behavior (consciously or not, it does not matter much in the big picture) to get better “scores” in, and through, social media.

Because, obviously, if you feel you are being watched, you change your behavior. Like not watching an interesting, but politically controversial video, because you know that the automatic logging of any action like that may have any of the undesired effects listed above.

Eventually, all this conscious or unconscious self-restraint could make you a better person. Or could limit your desire to take risks or exercise free speech.

In the latter case, this pressure can invisibly impose a culture of excessive conformity, that stifles real innovation, and sometimes even has unintended, but concretely harmful consequences (*).

And a society that “cools down” in this way is a society that struggles to progress, precisely because is made of people “more well behaved, but less human”.

(*) again, see the website for details.