C

What do social climbers and gossipers (爱说闲话的人) have in common? My mother believes that both are morally suspect, a lesson we readily pass on to our children: avoid the cheater and the whisperer.

But stories simplify reality. The most effective social climbers and gossipers possess a remarkable grasp of social structure to navigate (导航) their social worlds. This skill isn't a moral failing; it's a cognitive (认知的) skill.

Recent work from my laboratory shows that cognitive maps-mental representations of the social world-shape our critical social skills. Social success depends not just on whom you know but also on how well you understand the invisible architecture of your social world. Mapping this is no small task, as social networks are large and dynamic. Yet building such cognitive maps offers great advantages.

To better understand social navigation, my collaborator and I developed studies to investigate how people build cognitive maps. Across a year we tracked about 200 freshmen's friendships and asked them to report their understanding of others' connections.

In one study, we discovered that those who rise to the top of the social structure aren't the most charming or outgoing-they're the best social mapmakers. The most influential people quickly build mental maps of their peers' connections; those initially influential but without accurate mental maps of the network did not stay influential for long.

In a second paper, we examined whether mapmaking aids gossiping-a behavior that, despite its poor reputation, can be an efficient way to quickly learn about the ins and outs of the community. To understand how humans pull off this remarkable task, we wondered whether mapmaking helps predict where information will spread. Mental maps become quite useful in this case, as they reveal two key network features: someone's popularity and their distance from the gossip target. They help find a good friend-someone far enough from the target yet well-connected to spread information.

How does the brain build these maps? In one of our recent studies, we discovered that the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex-a neural (神经的) center known for navigating physical space-also carries a map of connections among people. The more strongly these maps are embedded in the brain, the better we are at brokering community ties. If the brain needs to quickly figure out where gossip might spread, knowing where the popular people are positioned or the key relationships that bridge the otherwise disconnected communities allows us to chart the sequence of ties that can efficiently cross the network.

Strategic wayfinding isn't only for physical space. It is just as necessary to be able to effectively move through our social landscapes. Armed with a deliberately unclear map of their social community, skilled social navigators can do what no GPS can. They see the bridges before they're built, avoid the storms of gossip, and map out a course to common ground.