Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Social Media: “Surrogate Tribes”?

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
The Logic of Social Practices

Part of the book series: Studies in Applied Philosophy, Epistemology and Rational Ethics ((SAPERE,volume 52))

Abstract

According to recent research, our complex neural-hormonal system (NHS) was shaped by evolution in function of its ability to protect our body’s integrity, thus ultimately enhancing our genes’ reproductive potential. Our “mind-body units” may hence be viewed as NHS-endowed “survival and reproduction machines” of our genes. In this context, social media, and networks, may be viewed as a sort of “surrogate tribes”, i.e., updated instruments of a contemporary version of the evolved human social communities.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Johnston, V.S.: Why We Feel: The Science of Human Emotions. Perseus Books, Reading, MA (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Damasio, A.R.: The Feeling of What Happens: Body and Emotion in the Making of Consciousness. Harcourt Brace, New York (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Rizzolatti, G.: Mirrors in the Brain: How Our Minds Share Actions, Emotions, and Experience. Oxford University Press, Oxford (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Cosmides, L., Tooby, J.: Cognitive Adaptations for Social Exchange. The Adapted Mind: Evolutionary Psychology and the Generation of Culture. Oxford University Press, New York (1992)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Damasio, A.R.: Self Comes to Mind: Constructing the Conscious Brain. Pantheon Books, New York (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Dawkins, R.: The Selfish Gene, 3rd edn. Oxford University Press, Oxford (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Boncinelli, E.: Minuscoli universi chiamati “uomini”. Corriere Della Sera, Milan, 28 Nov (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Le Doux, J.E.: The Emotional Brain: The Mysterious Underpinnings of Emotional Life. Simon & Schuster, New York (1998)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Bernard, C.: An Introduction to the Study of Experimental Medicine. Dover Publications, New York (1957)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Metzinger, T.: Being No One: The Self-model Theory of Subjectivity. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA (2003)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  11. Gould, J.S.: The Structure of Evolutionary Theory. Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA (2002)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  12. Wilson, E.O.: Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge. Knopf, New York (1998)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Ridley, M.: Nature Via Nurture: Genes, Experience, and What Makes Us Human. HarperCollins, New York (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Pinker, S.: The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language. HarperCollins, New York (1994)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  15. Miller, G.: The Mating Mind: How Sexual Choice Shaped Human Nature. Vintage, New York (2001)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. American University, Rome, Italy

    Paolo R. Crocchiolo

Authors
  1. Paolo R. Crocchiolo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paolo R. Crocchiolo .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Social Ontology and Social Epistemology, Faculty of Philosophy, Pontifical Lateran University, Rome, Italy

    Raffaela Giovagnoli

  2. Division of Cognition and Communication, Department of Applied IT, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Robert Lowe

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Crocchiolo, P.R. (2020). Social Media: “Surrogate Tribes”?. In: Giovagnoli, R., Lowe, R. (eds) The Logic of Social Practices. Studies in Applied Philosophy, Epistemology and Rational Ethics, vol 52. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37305-4_5

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation