7 Minute Miles

A Social Network


When I was growing up, most people would consider me one of the shy, introverted ones who kept to themselves and didn’t say much. In junior high school, I surprised a lot of people by speaking in front of a big crowd for an honor society induction ceremony. In high school, I had a close group of friends that I interacted with, but it wasn’t until I started my career that I really opened up socially.

Today, social interaction is a crucial piece of who I am and those interactions directly influence my level of happiness. The past two years have had a lot of ups and downs and I’ve spent a great deal of time and effort trying to improve various relationships (with mixed success). I always wondered why this was such a big deal to me, but I’ve learned science helps to explain. In the October 2011 issue of National Geographic, the cover story The New Science of the Teenage Brain cites:

…no species is more intricately and deeply social than humans are. This supremely human characteristic makes peer relations not a sideshow but the main show. Some brain-scan studies, in fact, suggest that our brains react to peer exclusion much as they respond to threats to physical health or food supply. At a neural level, in other words, we perceive social rejection as a threat to existence.

The recent PBS series This Emotional Life also came to the same conclusion:

It is the quality of our relationships — with friends, family and the larger community — that ultimately defines our happiness.

So there you have it…

Originally published by DK on October 18, 2011 at 8:47 am in Family, Friends, Mini Posts


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