Congress should sit together

Colorado's Sen. Mark Udall is on to something great with the simple suggestion that Congress people sit together.

In "Click: The Magic of Instant Connections" by Ori Brafman and Rom Brafman, the authors make a strong argument for the sheer power of proximity.

"We usually don't give much thought to where we sit in class or in an office meeting. But in fact a couple of feet of space make a world of difference. The likelihood of clicking, of forming a meaningful connection, with someone increases exponentially the closer we are to that person."

And--

"Moreover, employees who worked in different departments but sat close to each other were six times more likely to form collaborative partnerships than they were with counterparts in different departments who worked on different floors."


Exponential increases? Six times more likely? One possible explanation relates to spontaneous communication, which is that chatting about little things that just happens when you see people. I think sitting down next to someone and shooting the breeze about the weather may make it harder for you to demonize them as anti-American, or whatever your favorite epithet may be. You might even be inspired to talk about more meaningful topics and strike up a collaboration.

Comedians have been making fun of this idea of sitting together, but the Brafmans and the research they cite make a compelling argument that something so simple could make a difference. I propose that once a month Congress move to new randomly assigned seats. Imagine, if being close to people is enough to make you like them more, and more likely to collaborate, then the partisan divide could start to mend.

It could happen.


Cheers.