My two cents:<p>One, we are terrible at handling relationships, and emotions in general. A lot of psychological research is basically ignored, and we&#x27;re talking basic stuff--things like how depression happens, how to handle anger, what a bad relationship looks like.<p>Second, we&#x27;re in the unusual position of believing that we&#x27;re economically and socially mobile--that the poor can become rich--and also being constantly given examples of how hard it still is. We chase an American Dream of being the self-made, self-sustaining free human being, but are constantly reminded that failure sits just behind us and that even the best of friends can trip you up.<p>On that note, we&#x27;re also terrible at coping with failure.