It’s Okay to Ask Our Friends for a Favor
No, really. Science says so.
Maybe it’s just me, but it feels like society (specifically, American society) has been promoting a modern version of doing everything on our own — to “pull ourselves up by our bootstraps,” if you will. That independence should always be our goal as if asking for or receiving help is a weakness, a clear sign of incompetence or neediness.
Yet, it hasn’t always been like this. I bet you can remember a time when it wasn’t. It’s not even always true today because while many people are scared of asking for help, like so many things, the fear is worse than reality. Science shows that asking for help is good for both the asker and the askee.
Humans Are Social Creatures
Cooperation is one of our species’ greatest evolutionary adaptations — and cooperation requires socialization. Researchers believe humans’ innate ability for collaboration and socialization became more prominent 3.5 million years ago, or longer, among one of our earliest hominin relatives, the Australopithecines.
The Australopithecines are one of the longest-lived and most well-known early hominin species. You’ve likely heard of Lucy, the most famous member of this lineage, but archeologists have uncovered remains from over 300 Australopithecine…
