Derek Thompson

if maybe one reason why social connection protects memory is because at some mechanistic level, at some evolutionary level, memory is for socializing.

That is, if you think about the species,

And where we came from.

And you think about the architecture of our brains, which is very ancient.

Like, what did we use memory for 100,000 years ago?

You know, maybe it was to remember, oh, that's where the berries are.

That's where the poisonous berry is.

That's where you're likely to find the really calorie-dense mammals that will move very slowly so we can kill them.

Something like that.

Yeah.

But you also have to remember social facts.

Like, oh...

that guy is dangerous in short temper.

Absolutely.

And that woman has a crush on me.

And that place over there behind the rock has a very nice tribe and they're sometimes nice to our tribe and we can barter and trade and we can give them berries.

And maybe a lot of memory

is basically a function for being social at an evolutionary level.

And so in a weird way, priming that social engine by just being around people turns out to ironically have these protective benefits for our memory as we age much longer than our ancient ancestors.

I guess I wonder, how does that Rudyard Kipling just-so story sound to you, Dr. Weintraub?