Script 2
We all know that having friends is important, but why do we form friendships with some people and not others? In some ways, the answer is simple: you become friends with someone because you have things in common. Maybe you both like the same soccer team. Or perhaps you both love to play video games. Or maybe your personalities are similar: you’re a bit shy and the other person is, too.
But two American scientists, Dr. Peter DeScioli and Robert Kurzban, found that we form friendships with certain people for another reason: because these relationships protect us in some way. Their research also showed that we rank our friends on how likely they are to “have our back”—that is, to support us when there is trouble. The more likely a person is to help you, the closer a friend he or she is. For this reason, it’s possible to be friends with someone who is different from you. You get along because the person can help you in some way, the researchers say, and that’s even more important than your differences.
Questions:
- What do Peter DeScioli and Robert Kurzban believe?
- How do we rank our friends?
