Amazing, once-in-a-lifetime experiences make us social misfits

The Boston Globe:

As anyone who has signed on to Facebook recently can see, social media takes the propensity for sharing extraordinary experiences to the maximum. A Facebook feed can read like a list of epic moments from friends near and far: a gnarly mountain bike ride; an exquisite meal in Italy; a celebrity sighting.

But a new study led by a Harvard researcher suggests that the human desire to share out-of-the-ordinary experiences with others may amount to a fundamental miscalculation of what brings people together — and could even be a social liability.

The best conversations and connections seemed to stem from shared experiences, the researchers suggest, not from exotic yarns of parachuting out of a plane or summiting a mountain that we think will impress our colleagues.

Instead of launching a person into the spotlight, such experiences might do the reverse — making them feel more excluded and alone.

Read the whole story: The Boston Globe