Ben Rine

And that's probably because in an ancient world where being in groups made us survive, being alone meant you're closer to death.

And so when we are isolated, it basically triggers a stress response.

Our brains and bodies react as if there is an imminent threat.

Luckily, I think it's a good thing that people have heard more and more what you just said, that

It's a problem, right?

I think the big problem that's missing is why is it a problem?

What's really going on?

And some statistics have crept out into the public, like being isolated is as bad for you as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, things like that.

We've heard about the loneliness epidemic, but what's really, really going on?

If you think back...

a very very long time millennia and millennia ago human beings existed in an ancient world where there were a lot of threats you know we had to deal with food scarcity we had to hunt we had to deal with predation we were being hunted ourselves inclement weather all sorts of problems and the way that we got through it was by sticking together we work very well in groups and that does not necessarily make us unique there are many many other species on earth that are very much the same but because we work together in groups

our brains were evolutionarily favored to make us want to be together because that desire to be in groups is what kept us alive.

And so now if you fast forward, our brains still have the same systems they did back then, you know, we're kind of still working on this ancient hardware.

The software has changed the way we think has changed.

The life we live has changed, but the brain itself, the wiring and all that is still there from the old days.

And what's in there is a, a social reward system where we,

When we're around people, when we have pleasant interactions, the brain, our brain cells, certain brain areas release basically pleasant, reinforcing, reassuring neurotransmitters that tell us this is good for my survival.

You should keep on doing this.

Let's do this some more.

And that's probably because in an ancient world where being in groups made us survive, being alone meant you're closer to death.