4 ms·
The good thing is we can walk next door and meet our neighbor. It is strange this is an epidemic when it is a problem that seems so easy to solve. UPDATE: bas
by yters 7y ago
The good thing is we can walk next door and meet our neighbor.
It is strange this is an epidemic when it is a problem that seems so easy to solve.
UPDATE: based on responses to my comment it seems the core problem may be closer to home than we like to admit. CS Lewis' book The Great Divorce details this misanthropy, where hell is a product of the residents' own making because they choose to live on their own because they do not like anyone else.
- radcon 7y agoI can't tell if you're being sarcastic. This is like saying alcoholism is an easy problem to solve because all they have to do is stop drinking.
- Cthulhu_ 7y agoOr if you're depressed just think positive thoughts.
- mapcars 7y agoIt is actually just that easy. It is your own hand takes a glass or bottle and puts it into your own mouth, no one else's. The problem is you are not conscious about it, the same thing about not being willing to make contact with others.
- icebraining 7y agoIt's simple, not necessarily easy.
- arvinsim 7y agoIt takes two to tango. If people are not willing to meet people, then what can the one who initiates do?
- tictoc 7y agoFind another person. or get a dog.
- Kaiyou 7y agoPeople occasionally ring my doorbell. I always pretend to not be at home. Clearly, there's a flaw in your solution.
- tonyedgecombe 7y agoHow sad.
- Kaiyou 7y agoExperience has taught me, that nothing good comes from opening the door for unexpected guests. Though, I also neither know the names nor the faces of my neighbors living in the same house as me.
- stallmanite 7y agoI’m quite good friends with 4/5 of my neighbors. It’d still be rude of me to just knock on their door when I could easily text first to make sure they’re dressed/in the mood for company. If it matters I’m 40 and they run from 50-70 in age.
- squish78 7y agoI'm amazed at the responses and downvotes to this comment. Is everyone terrified of small talk with their neighbors?
- WalterSear 7y agoNo, they feel it's so simplistic it borders on insensitive. This isn't about small talk.
- squish78 7y agoI can't think of a single friendship that didn't start with small talk. I never expect a leap into deep philosophical quandaries with a stranger. Willingness to chitchat about mundane things creates a foundation of trust and familiarity that has led to many deep and meaningful relationships over the years.
- WalterSear 7y agoIt may be the start, but it's facetious to suggest that it is all that is sufficient to form friendships and community.
- squish78 7y agoI agree with you, and never suggested that it is all that is sufficient. It is a foundation from which deeper friendships and community will occur. Knowing someone starts with meeting someone
- logfromblammo 7y agoI live in a place where the neighbors are likely to talk about their religion, their football team, their other football team, their kids, their kid's football team, something implicitly racist, something explicitly racist, their job/boss/business (or lack thereof), or their vehicle. I'd only want to hear about two of those things. I'd prefer to talk about events or ideas, or activities that interest me. It's far easier to join an online discussion already in progress to feel less isolated in South Bumblefart, USA. I have found that familiarity does sometimes breed contempt, but absence does not always make the heart grow fonder.
- HelloNurse 7y agoI can meet my neighbour, but what if my neighbour doesn't want to meet me? What if my neighbour is more of a problem than a solution? What if attempts to be friendly are counterproductive (usually because some bad motive is assumed) and dangerous (because you make yourself vulnerable, e.g. to sexual predators)?