system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: How did the act of hugging evolve?

I've always wondered about this. I mean, I get that physical closeness/contact has an evolutionary component, as well as affection and nurturing behaviors -- but how did the distinct act of hugging develop? 
 I just imagine the first hug being super awkward, you know? Like, "I love you so much, I'm just going to press my body against yours for a minute."
gpt
Unfortunately, any evolutionary explanation for this is going to amount to a just-so story.  The only valid answer at the moment is "we don't know".  However, there's no particularly strong reason to believe that it's anything to do with biological evolution at all, or that hugging is even adaptive.