Social : Por qué nuestros cerebros están programados para conectarse

Renowned psychologist Matthew D. Lieberman explores groundbreaking research in social neuroscience that reveals our need to connect with others is even more fundamental, more basic, than our need for food or shelter. Because of this, our brains use their free time to learn about other people and our relationships with them: each of us has spent ten thousand hours learning to understand people before the age of ten. Lieberman argues that the need to reach out and connect with others is one of the primary drivers of our behavior, and new research shows that our brains react to social pain and pleasure in much the same way as they do to physical pain and pleasure. We have a unique ability to read other people's minds, to uncover their hopes, fears, and motivations, which allows us to effectively coordinate our lives. Furthermore, our most intimate sense of who we are is closely tied to the important people and groups in our lives. This connection often leads us to curb our selfish impulses for the greater good. These mechanisms give rise to behaviors that may seem irrational, but are actually just the result of our deep social connection.