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Book Excerpt from Why We Love

In Chapter 1, “Survival,” author Anna Machin describes the health benefits of strong human bonds.

Written byAnna Machin
| 5 min read
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At its most basic level, love is biological bribery. It is a set of neurochemicals which motivate you to, and reward you for, commencing relationships with those in your life who you need to cooperate with—friends, family, lovers, the wider community—and then work to maintain them. As we will see in the next chapter, the sensations which these chemicals induce in the individual—and which we call the sensation of loving or at least liking—are there to make you feel warm, content, euphoric and encourage you not only to seek out new sources of this sensation but also motivate you to keep investing in your relationships in the long term so that the feeling, and the survival-essential cooperation, never ends.

Who am I really, in isolation? I am always in relation to other people. So there is something about the people when you are with them. They are bringing out your ...

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Meet the Author

  • A black and white photo of Dr. Anna Machin

    Anna Machin is an evolutionary anthropologist, writer, and broadcaster. She earned her PhD in 2006 and has spent the time since exploring the science behind our closest relationships, most recently at the University of Oxford in evolutionary psychologist Robin Dunbar’s lab. She is a passionate science communicator, has written for New Scientist, The New York Times, The Guardian, and Aeon, and is a regular contributor to the BBC, ABC, and NPR.

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