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> You feel weird socially because you weren't wired to interact in the modern way (fast, tenuous, no strings). I feel a lot of the issues in our society boil d

> You feel weird socially because you weren't wired to interact in the modern way (fast, tenuous, no strings). I feel a lot of the issues in our society boil down to this. Logically we should feel more secure in a modern economy because of the sheer material wealth, and yet so many of us suffer depression, anxiety, and a raft of other chronic health issues. I suspect this is at least partly because we are evolved to find security in close communal relationships with people around us, but these relationships have become more shallow in modern society.

lordnacho 9y ago
There was some article recently arguing that the Las Vegas shooter was lonely. I don't know about that specifically, but I've run into a lot of people who were desperate for some social contact. I wouldn't be surprised if some of them ended up committing terrible crimes because of it. At my parents' restaurant we'd often get the odd guy (normally a man) who was there just because he wanted to see other people. The sort of person you see who'd jump at any chance to talk to someone. They'd smile at everyone else, and try get some chat going, all while dining for one. Normally it would be my dad asking the guy about his life, he is good at that. I remember when I was much older, and eating with my family at a restaurant, there'd be a regular we'd see who'd come in for a beer, smile at everyone, and then move on to the next place, and repeat. It was a small town. Dude seemed nice enough. For me it's always interesting to observe myself when I'm with family. I have a huge number of cousins owing to a busy grandfather. There's a pleasant yet hard-to-explain familiarity with them, because I didn't grow up with any but 5 of them. The others (dozens, I can't count and they keep finding me on FB) grew up elsewhere, but somehow I feel warm and fuzzy when they're around. Last time we all met up it was in Vegas.

lordnacho 9y ago

There was some article recently arguing that the Las Vegas shooter was lonely. I don't know about that specifically, but I've run into a lot of people who were desperate for some social contact. I wouldn't be surprised if some of them ended up committing terrible crimes because of it. At my parents' restaurant we'd often get the odd guy (normally a man) who was there just because he wanted to see other people. The sort of person you see who'd jump at any chance to talk to someone. They'd smile at everyone else, and try get some chat going, all while dining for one. Normally it would be my dad asking the guy about his life, he is good at that. I remember when I was much older, and eating with my family at a restaurant, there'd be a regular we'd see who'd come in for a beer, smile at everyone, and then move on to the next place, and repeat. It was a small town. Dude seemed nice enough. For me it's always interesting to observe myself when I'm with family. I have a huge number of cousins owing to a busy grandfather. There's a pleasant yet hard-to-explain familiarity with them, because I didn't grow up with any but 5 of them. The others (dozens, I can't count and they keep finding me on FB) grew up elsewhere, but somehow I feel warm and fuzzy when they're around. Last time we all met up it was in Vegas.