
Thousands of years ago, when humans roamed the African savannah, it was in our best interests to live in tribes. Being part of a tribe allowed us to sleep soundly knowing that others were looking out for man-eating sabre-toothed tigers.
We are biologically programmed to want to be with people and work together, as we instinctively know it helps our survival. We feel alive when we are with other people. Yet, there is a dark underbelly to this need to be with others - we also fear rejection. In fact, neuroscience studies have uncovered we experience social rejection like physical pain.