Oxytocin connects us to other people; oxytocin makes us feel what other people feel. And it’s easy to cause people’s brains to release oxytocin. Let me show you. Come here. Give me a hug.

Zak is using oxytocin—often discussed in neuroscience as a hormone/neuropeptide involved in social bonding and empathy—as a bridge between laboratory findings and everyday experience. The line moves from a general claim (“connects us,” “makes us feel what other people feel”) to a performative demonstration (“Give me a hug”), underscoring his broader rhetorical point: empathy and trust are not only moral ideals but also have measurable biological correlates that can be influenced by simple social behaviors. The invitation to hug functions as both evidence and persuasion, turning an abstract biochemical explanation into an immediate, embodied example of how interpersonal contact can heighten feelings of closeness.