Social Capital

When we fully accept ourselves and do not fear to be seen, connecting with others becomes surprisingly natural. We see the human being within ourselves and in the person across from us, and bond authentically over our shared experiences.

In studies of peer groups, Laura L. Carstensen, a psychology professor who is the director of the Stanford Center on Longevity in California, observed that people tended to interact with fewer people as they moved toward midlife, but that they grew closer to the friends they already had.

Even the sound of the word repels the smartest and most creative among us. You hear it and think, well that isn’t for me. Networking feels icky and so boring. It is something that a gel-haired sales bro does to fool people into buying what they’re selling. Not me.

It’s transactional. It feels daunting and unnatural. Plus, imagine mustering up the c... See more

As Bill McKibbenwrote recently, the best thing you can do to prepare yourself for climate change is live in an area with a high degree of social trust.

We’ve come through 75 years where having neighbors was essentially optional: if you had a credit card, you could get everything you needed to survive dropped off at your front door. But the next 75

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The convenience built into socialising in Spain makes it a low-effort ritual. It’s why the “living for the weekend” mindset doesn’t exist, and why the perennially semi-formal look of the average Spaniard makes it difficult to tell the day of the week by their clothes. Dressing correctly daily, they resist wardrobe categories such as weekday wear an... See more

Stuart Andrew, the British minister for loneliness, told me that one of the challenges of loneliness is the stigma that surrounds it.

Anyhow—we shouldn’t even be having this discussion .

We’re the richest country in the world. Heck, California is one of the richest countries in the world. And, in favor of our shitty rugged individualism , we have let the greater good go by the wayside. To put it kindly.

Melisse and I observed that—at least—in San Francisco, we could roll out of t... See more

The ones that form and spread great ideas, that build businesses, make music. Connections that let you find the back door and land opportunities you never would’ve otherwise. Connections that plant the right seeds for your future.

Genuine connections are among the few things that shape us.

Connections are like mycelium. It covers the entire earth ma... See more

Instead it is an argument to get to work building that kind of social trust in as many places as possible, because we’re going to need it. We’ve come through 75 years where having neighbors was essentially optional: if you had a credit card, you could get everything you needed to survive dropped off at your front door. But the next 75 years aren’t ... See more

But what makes us

HAPPY

?

While this is likely a bit different for everyone, I believe that once we have reached the “love and belonging” step on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, we have already achieved a lot of happiness.

Human connection is absolutely key to wellbeing as found by many scientific studies. And conversely, social isolation has been link... See more