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A journalist recently wrote an article in The Atlantic covering the epidemic of people spending more time alone and did an interview to talk about it. PBS - “T
by CMay 2y ago
A journalist recently wrote an article in The Atlantic covering the epidemic of people spending more time alone and did an interview to talk about it.
PBS - “The Anti-Social Century:” Inside America’s Epidemic of Solitude | Amanpour and Company
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wz8KrZFhaxU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wz8KrZFhaxU
People have been talking about this issue for a long time now.
We know it's an important problem and it's not the first time community has sort of collapsed, but it takes time for society to adjust back to a balance. Whether we force a fix or not, after the older generations pass away there will be more opportunity and sense of purpose/meaning in reaching out.
When stability and satisfaction is relatively achievable without others, the required motivational threshold for putting in the effort to make connections gets higher. This compounds when some businesses, events and organizations that rely on strong socializing tendencies to succeed start to decline. Then those have to be rebuilt once people realize the problem.
The worry is that the internet and online socializing could keep us in a groove that limits the effectiveness of any corrective measures, reducing the ROI on initiatives to solve it.
- euroderf 2y ago> When stability and satisfaction is relatively achievable without others, the required motivational threshold for putting in the effort to make connections gets higher. Maybe it's something simple, like: the mind craves words - and expressions made thereof - and social media gives just enough of a fix that the restless mind is not driven to seek out conversations & encounters in the flesh. Shyness becomes self-reinforcing. Awkward wins.
- CMay 2y agoI don't necessarily think it's simple from that angle. It's more like convenience and efficiency often come with encapsulation and reduced friction, which puts us in bubbles that cause us to slip right past eachother. That alone causes so many things to snap into place in the direction of training us to enjoy self-time until it reaches unhealthy saturation.
- johnnyanmac 2y ago>once people realize the problem. That may be the unique issue. Maybe a good portion of people never realize the problem and sustain on artificial intimacy. The internet is really good at giving people the facade of such interactions.