when I was in the eighth grade this is
what I was like I had an outrageous
obsession with Justin Bieber
I knew his mother’s middle name his
hobbies and even the name of his third
cat but I have a confession to make I
didn’t really like Justin Bieber I spent
hours of research on money just trying
to fit in with my friend group that was
centered around this idol my actions
result raw result of fear of being
excluded rather than a passion for this
17 year old rising star the influence we
have on each other is powerful and I’m
here to tell you about the power of your
influence and that it does matter but
the extent of our impact on each other
goes beyond what we may expect in fact
our influence can go as far as to
literally physically change another
person’s weight dr. Nicholas Christakis
a professor at Harvard Medical School
conducted a groundbreaking study he
observed 5,000 key subjects with half
being overweight or obese then he
studied how their weight influenced the
weight of those in their social
relations this was measured by recording
the body mass index of every participant
before and after the study within 32
years quick Christakis found that those
who were merely acquainted with each
other had a 57% chance of gaining weight
if one of them had gained weight but in
mutually tight relationships if one of
the friends had gained weight the other
friend had up to a 95 percent risk of
gaining weight the fact that there’s a
statistic as large as 95% and
guaranteeing the impact of others on us
demonstrates how large of a role we play
and determinate each other’s actions
most of what we wear our hobbies our
habits our decisions everything that we
perceive acceptable by our standards our
result of other people’s impact on us I
don’t study at Harvard I’m not an expert
in sociology but I have been morphed by
others and so have you so I ask you to
listen not just because this could
change you but
change how you change others according
to Harvard Health publications there are
three concepts as to how we influence
each other
the first is Association Association is
any form of social connection we have to
another person whether it be physical or
virtual people you were associated with
discuss their ideas and perspectives
around you and once you become aware of
them you may begin to develop similar
viewpoints for example this could
influence whether you voted for Clinton
or Trump perhaps Donald Trump’s win was
driven by the immense amount of
attention in the media which led to
discussions in workplaces schools and
even at home with Trump’s fame trumping
the media people began to conform to the
hot topic which may have allowed him to
gain more votes excuse me
I just yawned and in the next 30 seconds
as a reaction most of you will yawn as
well none of you intentionally thought
to yawn yeah a significant number of you
did this is the second concept the
mirroring effect humans have developed
the Mearing effect as a survival
mechanism to build relationships and
avoid exclusion but today mirroring
houses adapting to each other’s bad
habits unintentionally such as eating
more and exercising less because those
around us are my personal experience
with this I cared when my oldest sister
was a senior in high school stress
levels were building up homework was
overwhelming college applications were
due and her best friend had just left
for college little by little as demands
rose her appetite retreated by the
middle of first semester her cheeks were
pinching inwards and when she wore her
uniform it appeared as though it was
still on the hanger over time I found
myself touching my stomach more eating
less and becoming more insecure with my
body
when summer had come around I had lost
seven pounds I was 10
Mearing has this adapting to each
other’s bad habits whether we intend to
or not and we need to be aware of these
effects the last concept is peer
pressure
peer pressure are the expectations that
we feel others have for us and we must
live up to in order to be seen as equal
we are all aware of a negative side
effects of alcohol yet according to the
Center for Disease Control and
Prevention why is it almost guaranteed
that eighty one point six percent of us
will have consumed a drink before the
age of eighteen
teenagers are creating pressures by
generalizing that those who don’t drink
are socially awkward not as cool and
closed off as described by a few local
teenagers
Paul Dillon from research on Association
in Australia training says quote alcohol
consumption is no longer accepted it’s
expected close quote
therefore we are forced to conform to
the expectations of society or otherwise
face the stereotypes and exclusion that
has been set many of us have heard of
our principal mr. Bradley’s famous juice
metaphor which led to this legendary
senior prank shout-out to mr. Bradley
thank you but I want to take on this
metaphor from a different perspective
according to National Geographic geese
fly in a V formation so they can
increase flight efficiency up to 72
percent it is vital that the lead goose
quacks to keep the others in rhythm so
they can reach their desired destination
now imagine this we are all geese
migrating south for the winter and it’s
your turn to take the late position when
you are in the lead position are you
keeping others in rhythm so we can all
reach our desired destination people are
using association the mirroring effect
and peer pressure to negatively
influence us but we need to use these
concepts to positively influence them
it’s not just what you’re doing
consciously but subconsciously that can
change people I’m not telling you to
unfriend those who may negatively impact
you but that you should keep yourself
surrounded by people who uplift you as
well as reach out to those who need your
positive influence we have the
responsibility as parents friends
teachers and fret and administrators to
pull each other out of that habit and
not fall into them ourselves you
have the power to change people the
impact we have on each other may seem
subtle but the results are profound via
the goose that Sears the flock back on
course thank you [Applause]