Since 2000, Texas has voted red in the presidential election 100% of the time. And Abilene, Texas, is one of the most conservative cities in the state.
It was a title that inspired the startup Matter Neuroscience to fly to Texas and install a refurbished payphone on a street corner in the heart of Abilene.
A sign on the top of the blue payphone reads “Call a Democrat,” and it only leads to one line: a red payphone 1,500 miles away in San Francisco that says “Call a Republican.”
It’s part of a new payphone experiment that Matter Neuroscience debuted in mid-January.
“The goal for this project is for people from different places to have a meaningful conversation and enjoy common humanity,” a sign on the San Francisco payphone reads. “Research shows that the core molecules associated with happiness are the same in all human brains, regardless of political identity.”
“Political disagreements are natural, but hostile discourse often increases our brains’ cortisol levels (stress) and suppresses our happiness,” it continues. “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.”
So far, the startup has released five recorded conversations from the experiment. Topics include everything from cybertrucks and annoying coworkers to classic novels and the huge 4-million-square-foot AI data center that’s coming to Abilene.
But more often than not, the callers return to two tenets of small talk that are undeniably human: Good weather and bad traffic.
Despite hailing from “the most liberal and most conservative cities in America,” callers were reluctant to identify as a full-throated Republican or Democrat in several of the recorded conversations that have been released so far.
“I’m not a Democrat per se, but I am a resident of San Francisco,” one caller explained in a recording. “I kind of abandoned the Democratic Party. Are you a Republican?”
“I’m not necessarily a Republican, but I’m not a Democrat either,” an Abilene local replied. “I just feel like there’s so many good points on both sides. It’s really hard for me to make a decision, especially because there’s so much propaganda out there.”
It’s a reminder that nobody comes from a monolith. In fact, despite Abilene’s conservative fame, roughly 500 people gathered outside of Abilene's City Hall on October 18 to participate in the nationwide No King’s Protest.
On that day, organizers like Melissa Weaver were impressed by the modest turnout in a county that’s known for being red.
“It just means to me that people feel the same way I do,” Weaver told FOX West Texas. “We're normal everyday people, like, I grew up in Abilene, she was raised in Abilene. We are not bused in, we're not paid by anybody. Any of those things. We're just normal everyday people, but we want better for our country.”
Those political nuances and complexities are what the Matter Neuroscience project is all about.
When asked if she was a Republican, one Abilene caller said she’s become more of an Independent as she gets older.
“I’m pretty liberal,” the San Francisco caller responded. “Do you see the world [as being] as crazy as I do?”
“Yes, I do,” the Abilene caller responded with a laugh. “It’s getting worse everyday.”
As the payphone conversations have gone viral online, people have been encouraged by the compassion and civility demonstrated by the cross-country callers.
“A conversation,” one person replied in the comments section. “No yelling, no screaming, no shouting — just plain conversation between two individuals. Love this experience.”
“I could feel the happiness in their voices, and that made me happy too,” another person wrote under one video, in which a Texas caller and a California caller kept dissolving into giggles.
“I love these videos!” Another commenter chimed in. “Is there a plan in the works to put more of these phones around in different cities or states?”
“We are working on what’s next,” Matter Neuroscience replied, with a teasing eye emoji.
In an interview with ABC7 San Francisco, Matter Neuroscience’s co-founder Ben Goldhirsh said that he hopes that the experiment will bridge the yawning gap between voters — and hopefully put a smile on people’s faces.
“I think our thesis is that humans are pretty awesome and – if given the opportunity – will really look to find common ground because biologically that actually gives us a lot more happiness,” he said.
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Header image via Nina zeynep güler / Pexels
