Susan Pinker : The secret to living longer may be your social life

                             

TED 2017

Susan Pinker : The secret to living longer may be your social life (transcript)

Summary

This is a good news for men because, in the world, it is said that women often live longer than men do. The speaker researched a place where men live as long as women.

The important things to live longer were, of course, clean air, having your hypertension treated, stop feeling guilty about whether you're lean or overweight, exercising, rehabbing well a cardiac event,  a flu vaccine and quitting boozing and smoking.

And then the two top features were your close relationships and social integration. Those mean that there are people who grant small requests around you, and how much you interact with people as you move through your day. The face to face contact releases a whole cascade of neurotransmitters and oxytocin which increases your level of trust and lowers your cortisol levels and stress. Dopamine is generated, kills your pain and protects you. In fact, women are more likely to prioritize and groom their face to face relationships, thus they live longer.

lastly, if the structure of our cities, workplace, and agendas bolsters where people interaction can be naturally created in will be built, it helps us live longer.

The speaker adds that face to face of the digital technology still continues studying. Although it's the difference in brain activity between interacting in person and taking in static content, it will be improved in the near future.

Words in this story

integration / composite, putting together, coordination

centenarian / a person who is one hundred or more years old.

boozing / drink alcohol, especially in large quantities.

neurotransmitter / a chemical substance that is released at the end of a nerve fiber by the arrival of a nerve impulse and, by diffusing across the synapse or junction, causes the transfer of the impulse to another nerve fiber, a muscle fiber, or some other structure.