A Matter Neuroscience project lets callers in liberal San Francisco and conservative Abilene speak across party lines<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two experimental payphones \u2013 one placed in San Francisco<\/a> and the other in Abilene, Texas<\/a> \u2013 are connecting strangers across party lines, allowing callers to speak directly with Democrats and Republicans in two of the US\u2019s most ideologically opposed cities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The project is the work of Matter Neuroscience, a Boulder, Colorado-based biotech company and is fashioned out of old payphones bought off Facebook. One phone sits outside Black Serum Tattoo parlor in San Francisco\u2019s Mission District \u2013 and the other is in downtown Abilene by the bookstore Seven and One Books. Each phone is marked with a sign<\/a> explaining that callers will be connected to someone from the opposite end of the political spectrum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe goal for this project is for people from different places to have a meaningful conversation and enjoy common humanity,\u201d a sign placed on the San Francisco<\/a> payphone said. \u201cResearch shows that the core molecules associated with happiness are the same in all human brains, regardless of political identity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The sign continued: \u201cPolitical disagreements are natural, but hostile discourse often increases our brains\u2019 cortisol levels (stress) and suppresses our happiness. Positive conversations do the opposite, they lower cortisol and boost our feelgood neurotransmitters like dopamine and cannabinoids. In short, more cannabinoids and less cortisol equals more happiness for all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Speaking to<\/a> ABC7 San Francisco, Matter Neuroscience\u2019s co-founder Ben Goldhirsh said the aim was to test whether giving people a simple opportunity to talk to someone with different political views could lead to more understanding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think our thesis is that humans are pretty awesome and \u2013 if given the opportunity \u2013 will really look to find common ground because biologically that actually gives us a lot more happiness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n