--- description: Excerpts from my interview with Carlin Flora, author of Friendfluence: The Surprising Ways Friends Make Us Who We Are. Not Having Enough Friends Can Kill... title: The Surprising Science Behind Earthshakingly Wonderful Friendships image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt387feffe51ad1a07/6986966d3bc99967791a3f2d/181214915.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Ideas](/section/ideas/) ## Ideas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Psychology](/tag/psychology/) ## Psychology Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The Surprising Science Behind Earthshakingly Wonderful Friendships by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 6, 2014 4:01 AM CUT  Women laughing together on boat Women laughing together on boatBlend Images - Colin Anderson—Getty Images/Brand X by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 6, 2014 4:01 AM CUT Excerpts from my interview with Carlin Flora, author of [Friendfluence: The Surprising Ways Friends Make Us Who We Are](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009UBQU04/?tag=spacforrent-20 "undefined"). ## **Not Having Enough Friends Can Kill You** Carlin Flora: --- > “” --- ## **Friends Know You Better Than You Know Yourself** Carlin Flora: --- > “” --- ## **The Biggest Mistake You Make With Friendships** Carlin Flora: --- > “” --- ## **What Books Do You Recommend?** --- > “” --- ## **The Number One Tip For Improving Your Friendships** Carlin Flora: --- > “” --- More on improving friendships and making friends [here](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/11/how-to-make-friends-easily/ "undefined"). **Join 45K+ readers.** Get a free weekly update via email [here](http://eepurl.com/o6uAD "undefined"). Related posts: [How To Make People Like You: 6 Science-Based Conversation Hacks](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/10/how-to-make-people-like-you/ "undefined") [Top 10 FBI Behavioral Unit Techniques For Building Rapport With Anyone](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/11/rapport-building-skills/ "undefined") [Recipe For A Happy Marriage: The 7 Scientific Secrets](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/10/recipe-for-a-happy-marriage-2/ "undefined") _This piece originally appeared on_ [_Barking Up the Wrong Tree_](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/ "undefined")_._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2829401/the-surprising-science-behind-earthshakingly-wonderful-friendships/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2829401/the-surprising-science-behind-earthshakingly-wonderful-friendships/"},"headline":"The Surprising Science Behind Earthshakingly Wonderful Friendships","datePublished":"2014-06-06T04:01:23.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:54:12.940Z","description":"Excerpts from my interview with Carlin Flora, author of Friendfluence: The Surprising Ways Friends Make Us Who We Are. Not Having Enough Friends Can Kill...","url":"https://time.com/2829401/the-surprising-science-behind-earthshakingly-wonderful-friendships/","keywords":["Psychology","Friendship"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt387feffe51ad1a07/6986966d3bc99967791a3f2d/181214915.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt387feffe51ad1a07/6986966d3bc99967791a3f2d/181214915.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"181214915","caption":"181214915","creditText":"Blend Images - Colin Anderson—Getty Images/Brand X","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/psychology/","name":"Psychology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2829401/the-surprising-science-behind-earthshakingly-wonderful-friendships/","name":"The Surprising Science Behind Earthshakingly Wonderful Friendships"}}]}] ```