以下內容節錄自華爾街日報：
【The Surprising Science Behind Friendship】
For many of us, the top of our life priority list might look something like this: family, work—maybe exercise. Time with friends can sometimes end up near the bottom.
對許多人而言，若要列出生活中最重要的事情，出現在清單頂部的可能包括家庭、工作，抑或鍛煉身體。而和朋友共處的時光有時則可能位列底部。
That’s a mistake, says Lydia Denworth, a science journalist and the author of the new book “Friendship,” which was published last month by W.W. Norton & Co. Ms. Denworth interviews animal biologists studying baboons and rhesus macaque monkeys, anthropologists and neuroscientists to uncover just how important friendship is not only for happiness and emotional health, but, she argues, physical health, too. In fact, friends are key to our very survival, Ms. Denworth asserts.
這種排序是錯誤的，科學記者丹沃斯(Lydia Denworth)說。丹沃斯是《友誼》(Friendship)一書的作者，這本書不久前由諾頓出版公司(W.W. Norton & Co.)出版。丹沃斯通過對研究狒狒和恆河猴的生物學家、人類學家和神經科學家進行採訪，揭露了友誼背後的科學：友誼的確對提升人的幸福感和情緒健康非常重要，同時對保持身體健康也十分關鍵。事實上，丹沃斯認為，友誼對人類的生存至關重要。
What does studying how animals relate to each other tell us about human friendships?
研究動物之間的關係對於我們了解人類的友誼有什麼啟示？
At its simplest, it’s just how critical quality social bonds and friendships are. In animals, the big measures that evolutionary biologists study are reproductive success, which they count as either how many babies you have or how long those babies live, and longevity, or how long you survive. Nonhuman primates have very structured hierarchies that they exist in, and everyone assumed that that must have more importance for how long you live and how many babies you have and how healthy they are. And it wasn’t. The most important thing was the strength of the social bonds, how positively and well and regularly an individual animal interacted with other animals. Scientists really couldn’t believe it.
簡單來說，我們可以從中了解到有質量的社會關係以及友誼的重要性。在動物界，進化科學家們研究的主要指標包括繁殖成功率，即某隻動物的後代數量或幼崽存活時間；以及壽命，即動物自身的生存時間。非人類靈長類動物在森嚴的等級制度內生存，人們以為這種等級制度對動物的壽命長短、幼崽數量以及健康狀況影響更為重大。然而，事實並非如此，「社會紐帶」的強度，以及個體與族群中其他成員積極、良好及有規律的互動才是影響個體生存的最重要因素。科學家對這一發現感到十分震驚。
How does friendship affect physical health?
友誼如何影響身體健康？
Friendship literally improves your body’s cardiovascular functioning, how your immune system works, how you sleep. You can imagine the food you put in your body makes you healthy or not. But sitting in a coffee shop with someone and just chatting about what’s going on with your life, we always thought emotionally that made you feel good. But actually it really is doing much more.
就像攝入的食物決定我們是否身體健康一樣，友誼能改善我們的心血管功能、增強免疫力、提高睡眠質量。與好友相約，喝喝咖啡、聊聊自己的近況，我們總認為這些活動僅能起到放鬆心情的作用。但實際上，其作用遠不止於此。
A big study at Harvard of men across their lives from 20 to 80 found that the single best predictor of your health and happiness at 80 was not your wealth or your professional success. It was your relationships at 50.
哈佛大學進行了一項大規模的研究，追蹤了一批男性從20歲到80歲之間的人生軌跡。這一研究表明，預測你80歲時健康狀況與幸福感的最佳依據並不是你的財富或事業成就，而是你50歲時的人際關係。
To read the full story:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-surprising-science-behind-friendship-11581256802
和麥克風一起漫步華爾街:
https://www.facebook.com/mktsurvivalkit/posts/3335181549836938
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