4 ms·

> companionship is what they need I'm 40ish and married right now, but throughout my life I've alternated between being solitary and living with people. My ta

by 13of40 10y ago

> companionship is what they need I'm 40ish and married right now, but throughout my life I've alternated between being solitary and living with people. My take on it is that both are psychologically stressful in different ways. I've wondered once or twice whether it would be better to have some kind of drug or therapy that helps a person be content with being alone rather than assuming that companionship is going to be a magic bullet for everyone.

CuriouslyC 10y ago
Part of the problem is that our culture strongly encourages social contribution and development of identity via social mechanisms. We stigmatize non-contribution and individual identity using labels like crazy, weirdo, freak and degenerate. Isolating non-conformists wouldn't need medication and therapy if people respected them in the first place.
- mrec 10y ago
  Yeah, that stigma seems to be a relatively recent phenomenon. Reading something like Dickens there's far more tolerance of eccentricity on many axes. (That might be just Dickens himself, of course, but I doubt it.)
logfromblammo 10y ago
Fuchemol (hermitin HCl) is FDA-approved to reduce your inconvenient cravings for social contact. Known side effects include repetitive meals, speaking to inanimate objects or animals, excessive self-stimulation, and dying alone. Talk to your doctor about whether the anti-loneliness pill might work for you today! Clearly, some people exist that do not care much for the annoying habits of other humans. And some humans can't go a single day without reassuring themselves that they exist through the mirror of another person. There must be some form of biochemical factor that determines an appropriate level of social interaction for any specific person, or we would not see the variation. Thus, it is only a matter of time before the specific receptor is identified, and a drug found that targets it without unpleasant side-effects. Such a drug might be useful for future manned space industry. It reduces the number of variables required. If your pioneer crews don't necessarily have to interact socially to remain psychologically stable, you don't have to be quite as careful to ensure their social compatibility. They can all do their work, then go to their racks, swallow their pill, put on headphones, and thoroughly ignore each other for years on end.
- 13of40 10y ago
  > Known side effects include repetitive meals, speaking to inanimate objects or animals, excessive self-stimulation, and dying alone. On the other hand, your relationship could just as easily prevent you from writing a book, or getting a Master's degree, or traveling when and where you want, because you're spending every night at your clingy girlfriend's house eating popcorn and watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

by 13of40 10y ago

CuriouslyC 10y ago

Part of the problem is that our culture strongly encourages social contribution and development of identity via social mechanisms. We stigmatize non-contribution and individual identity using labels like crazy, weirdo, freak and degenerate. Isolating non-conformists wouldn't need medication and therapy if people respected them in the first place.

mrec 10y ago
Yeah, that stigma seems to be a relatively recent phenomenon. Reading something like Dickens there's far more tolerance of eccentricity on many axes. (That might be just Dickens himself, of course, but I doubt it.)

logfromblammo 10y ago

Fuchemol (hermitin HCl) is FDA-approved to reduce your inconvenient cravings for social contact. Known side effects include repetitive meals, speaking to inanimate objects or animals, excessive self-stimulation, and dying alone. Talk to your doctor about whether the anti-loneliness pill might work for you today! Clearly, some people exist that do not care much for the annoying habits of other humans. And some humans can't go a single day without reassuring themselves that they exist through the mirror of another person. There must be some form of biochemical factor that determines an appropriate level of social interaction for any specific person, or we would not see the variation. Thus, it is only a matter of time before the specific receptor is identified, and a drug found that targets it without unpleasant side-effects. Such a drug might be useful for future manned space industry. It reduces the number of variables required. If your pioneer crews don't necessarily have to interact socially to remain psychologically stable, you don't have to be quite as careful to ensure their social compatibility. They can all do their work, then go to their racks, swallow their pill, put on headphones, and thoroughly ignore each other for years on end.

13of40 10y ago
> Known side effects include repetitive meals, speaking to inanimate objects or animals, excessive self-stimulation, and dying alone. On the other hand, your relationship could just as easily prevent you from writing a book, or getting a Master's degree, or traveling when and where you want, because you're spending every night at your clingy girlfriend's house eating popcorn and watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer.