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If you like this you may also enjoy "The Village Effect" by Susan Pinker[1]. In the book the author documents various ways in which social connectedness impacts

If you like this you may also enjoy "The Village Effect" by Susan Pinker[1]. In the book the author documents various ways in which social connectedness impacts our well being. As this article and book say "loneliness kills", but what does that mean for those of us who want to live long and healthy lives? Do we need to start scheduling social time alongside gym time? Will a hug a day keep the doctor away? Should we join organized religions or get married strictly for the health benefits? [1]: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22933077-the-village-effect https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22933077-the-village-eff...

judah 9y ago
>> "Should we join organized religions or get married strictly for the health benefits?" As a married religious person who was once single and not so religious, I can attest that faith and marriage have generally made me happier. Given the choice again, I'd utilize both regardless of health benefits. I do wonder if that general happiness factor contributes to better health in indirect ways.
- ams6110 9y ago
  Of course the risk of marriage is that if the marriage falls apart it can cause devastating unhappiness for a long time, that you may never really recover from.
rokhayakebe 9y ago
Should we join organized religions or get married strictly for the health benefits Sure, why not? So long as you can use from it what is beneficial and leave the rest. Everyone gets married for some reason (have kids, finances, politics, lust, love etc...). If you do it to be happier and live a longer live, then all the more power. Everyone who choosed their religion did so for some reason (get closer to God, politics, fashion, soul-finding etc...). If you do it to be happier and live a longer live, then all the more power.
- catawbasam 9y ago
  No, not strictly for the health benefits. Do them for their own sake, and they can bring you great joy. Do them without attention to their essential meaning, and you will be living falsely. This will not make you happy or healthy.
coldtea 9y ago
>As this article and book say "loneliness kills", but what does that mean for those of us who want to live long and healthy lives? Do we need to start scheduling social time alongside gym time? No, we need to stop scheduling things and embrace a less forced, more natural, community-centric, living.
- CalRobert 9y ago
  I think your vision of things is the ideal, but it also isn't always practical. If you live a 30 minute drive (or more) away from everyone you know, and service-workers / fellow consumers (people at the grocery store, etc) are anonymous to you, scheduled interaction may be your only interaction. Of course, that also speaks to a profound failure of urban design and a desolate hellscape. Human-scale communities where you're a 10-30 minute _walk_ from your friends make this sort of less-forced living much easier.
  - freeflight 9y ago
    > service-workers / fellow consumers (people at the grocery store, etc) are anonymous to you But they don't have to be anonymous to you, that's also a rather new and urban development: The expectation that nobody should "bother" anybody else unless they already know them or have some business reason to do so. In smaller communities, everybody knew most of their "service-workers" even outside of their service function, that wasn't something out of the ordinary it was pretty much normal.
    - CalRobert 9y ago
      I agree, but for whatever reason I've only gotten to know people in different settings. I am familiar enough with the person in the corner shop, but not so much with the supermarket or department store. I wonder why that is (perhaps because I generally get the same person at the corner shop?)
yosito 9y ago
> Should we join organized religions or get married strictly for the health benefits? While religion and marriage are the most popular and accessible options for finding community and social support, there are other options like meetup groups, travel communities, polyamorous communities, group yoga classes, etc. Just mentioning that for anyone out there who's thinking they have to join a religion they don't believe in to find community.

judah 9y ago

>> "Should we join organized religions or get married strictly for the health benefits?" As a married religious person who was once single and not so religious, I can attest that faith and marriage have generally made me happier. Given the choice again, I'd utilize both regardless of health benefits. I do wonder if that general happiness factor contributes to better health in indirect ways.

ams6110 9y ago
Of course the risk of marriage is that if the marriage falls apart it can cause devastating unhappiness for a long time, that you may never really recover from.

rokhayakebe 9y ago

Should we join organized religions or get married strictly for the health benefits Sure, why not? So long as you can use from it what is beneficial and leave the rest. Everyone gets married for some reason (have kids, finances, politics, lust, love etc...). If you do it to be happier and live a longer live, then all the more power. Everyone who choosed their religion did so for some reason (get closer to God, politics, fashion, soul-finding etc...). If you do it to be happier and live a longer live, then all the more power.

catawbasam 9y ago
No, not strictly for the health benefits. Do them for their own sake, and they can bring you great joy. Do them without attention to their essential meaning, and you will be living falsely. This will not make you happy or healthy.

coldtea 9y ago

>As this article and book say "loneliness kills", but what does that mean for those of us who want to live long and healthy lives? Do we need to start scheduling social time alongside gym time? No, we need to stop scheduling things and embrace a less forced, more natural, community-centric, living.

CalRobert 9y ago
I think your vision of things is the ideal, but it also isn't always practical. If you live a 30 minute drive (or more) away from everyone you know, and service-workers / fellow consumers (people at the grocery store, etc) are anonymous to you, scheduled interaction may be your only interaction. Of course, that also speaks to a profound failure of urban design and a desolate hellscape. Human-scale communities where you're a 10-30 minute _walk_ from your friends make this sort of less-forced living much easier.
- freeflight 9y ago
  > service-workers / fellow consumers (people at the grocery store, etc) are anonymous to you But they don't have to be anonymous to you, that's also a rather new and urban development: The expectation that nobody should "bother" anybody else unless they already know them or have some business reason to do so. In smaller communities, everybody knew most of their "service-workers" even outside of their service function, that wasn't something out of the ordinary it was pretty much normal.
  - CalRobert 9y ago
    I agree, but for whatever reason I've only gotten to know people in different settings. I am familiar enough with the person in the corner shop, but not so much with the supermarket or department store. I wonder why that is (perhaps because I generally get the same person at the corner shop?)

yosito 9y ago

> Should we join organized religions or get married strictly for the health benefits? While religion and marriage are the most popular and accessible options for finding community and social support, there are other options like meetup groups, travel communities, polyamorous communities, group yoga classes, etc. Just mentioning that for anyone out there who's thinking they have to join a religion they don't believe in to find community.