A different kind of software virus

Turns out if your friend's wife starts putting on more pounds, chances increase that you will too, even if you never met her:

A Framingham resident was roughly 20 percent more likely to become obese if the friend of a friend became obese — even if the connecting friend didn’t put on a single pound. Indeed, a person’s risk of obesity went up about 10 percent even if a friend of a friend of a friend gained weight.

Same pattern occurs for other behaviors like smoking, eating healthy, feeling happiness, etc. Behavior spreads like a virus, like a germ.

The conclusion remains controversial, but it makes sense intuitively, which explains why most of the scientists in the article say things like, "It's still being researched, but I believe it."

It's the same reason why we believe:
* senior managers should effuse optimism at all times.
* a good worker put in a dead-beat group will soon become a dead-beat.
* a co-worker's problems at home will affect the workplace; as a result, people are very hesitant to hire someone having personal problems.
* one bad apple can spoil the barrel.

It also means that if you are following good coding practices and doing great work, but find yourself surrounded by sub-par quality, your efforts will raise everyone else's game. Of course, odds are that you will be affected negatively -- infected, as it were -- but now that you know that, you can focus on preventing that. A little like washing your hands frequently.