The Guardian

How do you make friends as an adult? You asked Google – here’s the answer | Kate Leaver

Every day millions of people ask Google life’s most difficult questions. Our writers answer some of the commonest queries
Celebrity walkers on The Road to Santiago: ‘An activity will give you something to focus on, to talk about, and to anchor your time together.’ Photograph: Adrian Colina/BBC/CTVC/Adrian Colina

Looking back at your childhood with rose-tinted glasses can trick you into thinking it was easy to make friends as a kid. You shared a biscuit, a puzzle and maybe some germs, and you had a friend for life.

But the playground is a harsh environment. Can’t you just hear the refrains, in a five-year-old’s voice? “You’re not my friend any more,” or “You’re not invited to my birthday party.” Then think of the alliances built on gossip in high school, the savagery of a teenager’s rejection, the brittleness of adolescent identity. Human interaction was just as difficult before our frontal lobe was fully developed.

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