Sublime

increase your sense that life is worthwhile, and it increases how engaged you become with the rest of the community.

some important questions about both the patterns of our friendships and the effort we put into maintaining them through time.

reinforcement. Its presence is reduced in addicts, who attempt to normalize their levels with substances or actions. This

Being kind reduces stress hormones16 and makes you happier; spending money on others can lower your blood pressure as much as a healthy diet; altruism is literally an analgesic. So have another order of French fries, give the fry cook $20, and everyone wins. I love science.

All social animals, including people, live under constant pressure from two competing interests: protecting themselves from others and aligning themselves with others. When these two interests are balanced, the result is dynamic social homeostasis.

the quality of our lives and the health of our society depends, to a large degree, on how well we treat each other in the minute interactions of daily life.

“The Evolution of Altruistic Behavior.”

This matters, argues economist Robert Frank, because ‘our beliefs about human nature help shape human nature itself’.

Again, it seems that being able to identify that someone comes from the same small community as you is more important than anything else.