Consequential Strangers
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when we are looking for a job, our casual acquaintances are often more helpful than close friends and co-workers.
The basic idea is that weak links are strategically valuable to us in gaining access to more diverse types of knowledge, perspectives and contacts. Yet at the same time, weak links help provide stability and diversity to a system. Without weak bonds, a system would be more of a predictable monoculture that is less resilient to new conditions. It would be more boring, familiar and vulnerable to unexpected disruptions.
For example, studies show that people with a rich web of relationships are less likely to come down with colds — presumably because it strengthens our immune system. People who lack close community ties are more likely to die nine years earlier than those with more extensive social connections. For women, it’s 2.8 times more likely; for men, 2.3 times more likely. We are nurtured and fortified by our social connections, however casual.
- On The Commons, via Bobulate
