"That pay phone, located outside a tattoo shop near 14th Street, connects strangers in San Francisco, a liberal bastion, to those in Abilene, Texas, one of the most conservative cities in the country. The San Francisco pay phone is labeled "call a republican." When the receiver is lifted off the hook, it automatically rings another pay phone, labeled "call a democrat," which is posted outside a bookstore in Abilene."
"It's a publicity stunt by Matter Neuroscience, a tech company that has raised $26 million. The company researches the biomarkers of happiness. Currently, the company offers an "emotional fitness" app. "By design, our goal is to help people live a more emotionally and molecularly balanced life. Really what that means is, like, helping people understand all of their sources of happiness," Beth Stone, the company's vice president of marketing, told SFGATE."
A pay phone on Valencia Street in San Francisco connects callers directly to a pay phone outside a bookstore in Abilene, Texas, linking two politically different cities. The San Francisco phone is labeled "call a republican" and the Abilene phone "call a democrat," creating spontaneous conversations between strangers. Matter Neuroscience installed the phones as a publicity stunt; the company studies biomarkers of happiness, offers an emotional fitness app, and has raised $26 million. A company placard claims hostile political discourse raises cortisol and suppresses happiness while positive conversations lower cortisol and boost neurotransmitters like dopamine and cannabinoids. The installation went viral on social media.
Read at SFGATE
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