9781422280645

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Social Fears

Social animals, such as wolves, pay a lot of attention to hierarchy.

Because worrying about others’ opinions is built into who we are as humans.

Living in Groups That slight feeling of nervousness around other people is actually a survival skill. That might sound weird to you. After all, it’s clearly wise for people to fear animals like tigers or lions—at one time, after all, our ancestors were lunch for large animals. But why would it be helpful for us to fear socializing with others? To answer that question, let’s look at the animal kingdom. Animals that live together in communities are called “social animals.” There are many types of social animals, from mice to killer whales. Many of