Acharya Prashant explains that a true friend is someone whose presence uplifts one's life, mind, and thought process, providing clarity and insight. He argues that it is entirely possible for men and women to be friends because such a relationship can sharpen one's consciousness and help one understand life better. He points out that an intelligent female friend can identify and highlight subconscious biological urges or 'the animal' within a man that might remain hidden in a group of only men. By pointing out these behaviors in real time, a friend of the opposite sex helps an individual grow and clear mental cobwebs. He further suggests that a person's humanness remains unawakened and uneducated if they do not befriend animals and people of the opposite sex. Moving only in same-sex groups can lead to being uncultured and underdeveloped because one fails to understand the wholeness of existence. Since women constitute half of the world's population, one cannot truly understand the world or oneself without understanding them. Depriving oneself of the company of the opposite gender breeds desperation, perversion, and over-sexualization. When genders are kept apart, the mind fills the gap with lustful imaginations and illusions. Acharya Prashant emphasizes that men and women must be friends to avoid becoming caricatures of their own gender. He notes that conservative cultures and religions often create a chasm between genders, which leads to hypersexualization and misery. In a spiritual and awakened society, men and women mingle freely, which reduces desperation because they see each other as human beings rather than objects of fancy. He concludes that the more one is identified with their gender and kept away from the other, the more they become body-identified, which is the root cause of personal and global problems.