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

by Vivek H. Murthy

Even in the absence of others, stories make individuals feel connected and promote a sense of belonging. This helps to explain the enormous role that storytelling plays in securing human values, purpose, and identity, and in bonding us emotionally. Ever since the first cave drawing, we’ve been encoding our experiences in stories through words, pictures, music, and rituals to be passed down generation to generation. These tales help us understand who we are. They give meaning to our struggles, and comfort us when we are suffering or afraid. They bring us together. All this means that our social evolution is deeply intertwined with our physical evolution. And this whole process is still baked into our collective psyche today, Bill told me. “If I’m not sharing knowledge and emotions, then I feel lonely.”