Can I just say baby elephants are so cute that they should be able to stay baby for a long time?

I'm Antelope Duckworth.

I'm Stephen Dubner.

And you're listening to no stupid questions.

Today on the show, do we really need family?

I cannot come to Thanksgiving this year and I cannot stand you.

Angela, a listener named Aaron writes in to say the following.

My relationships with my parents and siblings have become very strained over the past few years.

It has me thinking a lot about family relationships.

Take a seat now, Angela.

Big provocative question.

Do we need family?

Aaron asks, what causes us to place so much emphasis on relationships with people we didn't choose to be with, but happen to know by chance.

Well, by chance and DNA and environment and so on.

Are these relationships worth the work?

I love the times they have had with my family, but the relationships have become so toxic recently.

It has me thinking I should just cut ties and move on.

So Angela, obviously this is a tricky question, but let's start with the data.

What does the psychological literature say to Aaron?

Do we quote need family?

I think the psychology is relevant, but also evolutionary biology, which is a sister discipline.

I think it's pretty clear that every culture around the world and throughout recorded history has had some notion of family.

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