Together: Why Social Connection Holds the Key to Better Health, Higher Performance, and Greater Happiness

by Vivek H. Murthy

Buettner has spent years identifying the areas of the world known as “blue zones,” which have the statistically highest life expectancy or rate of people who live to the age of one hundred. And while he believes that most of their longevity is a function of an environment that nudges them into eating plant-based foods and moving naturally all day long, Dan has found that they also enjoy an unusually high degree of social connection. In the blue zone of Okinawa, Japan, Buettner discovered an inspiring social system called the moai. The term, which means “meeting for common purpose,” originally described a communal pool of funds that supported the whole village, but it’s evolved to describe a social support network of close friends. In traditional times, Okinawan parents initiated a moai by bringing infants of similar ages together in groups of five, as if they were siblings. The families of these children supported one another, so the group grew up together and relied on one another, continuing as adults to meet daily or weekly. Today’s moais still help one another financially, when needed, but the “common purpose” now has more to do with companionship and advice. A moai is like a second family.