Together

Beautiful, necessary, and eerily timely. This isn't about introversion or extroversion, nor solitude nor mingling nor quiet: it's about humans as social primates whose entire shtick is our ability to cooperate with each other – and who need one another. He has studied our growing isolation and is concerned about it... and consider that his book was written before COVID. There is much more to be alarmed about today.

He touches on many of my hot-button issues: tribalism, toxic masculinity, compassion, listening. (I was disappointed that he never referred to Sarah Blaffer Hrdy's nor Robert Sapolsky's work. Can't have it all). He writes with humility and kindness, also engagingly with many touching anecdotes from his professional life but more importantly his personal one. His words move me and have left me thinking deeply about my own relationships.

This is a book for all of us. If you think you're already well connected, you can learn to do more. If you think you're a recluse and want to squirrel yourself away from the world, ... well, you might not be as much as you think you are. I encourage you to give it a try. If you can't take the time for a book, can you spare fifty minutes? Listen to his lovely interview on the Hidden Brain podcast. Highly recommended – it's what got me to order and read the book.