Why Humans Suffer Even When There’s Just One Other Person Around

Human beings are born social, and that means we can’t exist without comparison.In prehistoric times, noticing differences—who was stronger, who had more—was a matter of survival. But what once protected us has now turned into a source of psychological pain.

In the modern world, we witness other people’s lives in real time.Social media constantly reminds us that someone, somewhere, is doing better.And so, paradoxically, we become unhappier not when we’re alone—but when there’s even one person near us to compare ourselves with.

Comparison, once an evolutionary instinct, has become the quiet poison of our self-worth.