The longing to belong is adaptive in crisis, obviously, but it's still there even when there's not a crisis. We ignore that, I think, at our peril. And of course, we seek it in many ways outside of our normal schedule of life because we miss it.
Journalist and author Sebastian Junger talks about his book Tribe with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Junger explores the human need to be needed and the challenges facing many individuals in modern society who struggle to connect with others. His studies of communal connection include soldiers in a small combat unit and American Indian society in the nineteenth century.