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Ask HN: How can we solve the loneliness epidemic?

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Re: Ask HN: How can we solve the loneliness epidemic?

#741

Post by PonyoSunshine »

I am in North Seattle, and I have a flock of nerds under me that would like to see real demonstrations of penetration testing via radio (Wifi and more). I have been proposing doing monthly meetups where we go up on a the rooftop of various buildings, bust out the tools, the antennas, and every other toy we have to scan and show how it's done. There are stories about others and me that the younger generation would love to see in action and then we teach what is going on, how we are doing it, and more importantly, when we find a vulnerable target, offer help to fix the hole. Kind of like white hat pen testing. So many of the younger generation wants to exploit things, but do not understand the ethics as to why and why not, and how to do good with having those sort of skills. I know this might be slightly off topic, but I think the real answer to the question here is who is willing to take the lead and step out of the normal club, party, con, meetup crap and get back to the old school groups like we had back in the 90s?

It seems a lot of you are in Seattle and I'm willing to try and host an event like this if any of you might be interested.

Re: Ask HN: How can we solve the loneliness epidemic?

#742

Post by account42 »

neilk wrote: post #438

You have to be the one who creates things to do. Really, that’s it. You want to play D&D together, you host and DM. You want to just hang out, you reach out and propose what you’re doing. You want more purposeful and meaningful time, join a volunteer group you vibe with. Even if it’s meeting for coffee. You have to be the one who reaches out. You have to do it on a regular cadence. If, like me, you don’t have little…

While you are not wrong, I think in many cases this advice is as effective as telling someone to "just stop being depressed".

Re: Ask HN: How can we solve the loneliness epidemic?

#743

Post by delis-thumbs-7e »

From wikipedia: ” An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί epi "upon or above" and δῆμος demos "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of hosts in a given population within a short period of time.”

As with covid, individual actions are not enough to stop the spread of the epidemic. You need vaccinations, health education, public policy etc. not just individual actions, so ”go dancing” and ”talk to people” doesn’t quite cut it.

Seems strange to me that at this site from the whole internet people don’t seem to see the connection between the raise of new technologies and lonelines (with a host of other mental health/social issues). And therefore this is the one problem the nerds don’t seem to be able to solve…

I cannot either, but I think we need to start looking at technology from a point of view of public health. Some sort of sociology/medical studies on the effects of computing on human body/mind and society.

Re: Ask HN: How can we solve the loneliness epidemic?

#744

Post by globular-toast »

olalonde wrote: post #395
AlecSchueler wrote: post #39

If you have young boys in your life then teach them that it's ok to feel and express their emotions, and as they get older that their sexual self need not be frightening and that sex can exist outside of narratives of domination.

I'm not sure how you arrived at that conclusion. The loneliness epidemic is relatively recent, and unless I'm misunderstanding you, this isn't something young boys were taught in the past.

It's more that they need to unlearn what society has been telling them for the past couple of decades. Young boys in the past weren't brought up being essentially told they are monsters and that expressing preferences is "objectifying women" etc.

Re: Ask HN: How can we solve the loneliness epidemic?

#745

Post by elric »

delis-thumbs-7e wrote: post #743

From wikipedia: ” An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί epi "upon or above" and δῆμος demos "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of hosts in a given population within a short period of time.” As with covid, individual actions are not enough to stop the spread of the epidemic. You need vaccinations, health education, public policy etc. not just individual actions, so ”go dancing” and ”talk to people” doesn…

> Seems strange to me that at this site from the whole internet people don’t seem to see the connection between the raise of new technologies and lonelines (with a host of other mental health/social issues). And therefore this is the one problem the nerds don’t seem to be able to solve…

It doesn't seem that strange that a website with a few thousand geeks isn't able to solve a global phenomenon by commenting on an article.

HN is a place for discussion. It seems unreasonable to expect world changing outcomes.

I suspect the "think global, act local"-motto applies here. You can certainly make a local impact by "going dancing".

Re: Ask HN: How can we solve the loneliness epidemic?

#747

Post by moomoo11 »

vivzkestrel wrote: post #620
moomoo11 wrote: post #153

You can't. It is up to them to change. They won't change, and this "loneliness epidemic" is starting to become really fucking annoying. It is almost a grift now to shit on tech by mids. These people don't want to go outside or engage with other people. It is like people who are drug/alcohol/tobacco/gambling/sex/etc addicts. It is up to the individual to change. How is it anyone else's responsibility? I surveyed a bun…

- indian here, i am going to take that a bit offensively. - millions of indians go outside daily and are doing just fine. - social media algorithms are rigged against india for reasons i do not understand or comprehend. - you can easily review this by comparing the amount of engagement on youtube to positive stuff about india vs negative stuff. - while our country is most certainly not perfect and has problems of its…

I'm also originally from India. My thoughts/opinions are my own and based on my experiences, and yes I stand by them. I remember the pollution, the trash everywhere, and I come from a poor family who lived in a 1 room home with no running water and an outdoor commode. My life was hell there, and I have to pinch myself every morning to make sure I'm not dreaming.

You have the right to your opinion, and your own relative experience. You don't need to get so easily offended, relax.

I wasn't being a dick, sry if it came off that way.

Re: Ask HN: How can we solve the loneliness epidemic?

#748

Post by baud9600 »

I’m loving the comments here. But I confess I exoected a ‘social technology’ solution to the problem!! Like “casserole” in the UK, which connects people in a neighbourhood with others who need food and a visit. You make a casserole and take it round. I’ve not seen this in person but it seems like a great application of tech to help ward off loneliness… You could easily extend this to “dog friends” or “cat friends”, where you’re connected with someone who’d like you to visit them and bring your dog or cat for an introduction and a pat

Re: Ask HN: How can we solve the loneliness epidemic?

#749

Post by AlecSchueler »

olalonde wrote: post #395
AlecSchueler wrote: post #39

If you have young boys in your life then teach them that it's ok to feel and express their emotions, and as they get older that their sexual self need not be frightening and that sex can exist outside of narratives of domination.

I'm not sure how you arrived at that conclusion. The loneliness epidemic is relatively recent, and unless I'm misunderstanding you, this isn't something young boys were taught in the past.

No, we taught them the opposite, and they grew up to build the lonely world we're all living in now.

Re: Ask HN: How can we solve the loneliness epidemic?

#750

Post by KaiserPro »

I will separate this into expensive, still has a cost, and "free"

Expensive:

Car meetups and car modding

Horse based activities (learning to ride etc is group based)

learning a craft (ie blacksmithing, knitting circles, ceramics)

Swordfighting of various styles (east/west/modern/renaissance/polish drunk people in armour)

Warhammer

Cost, but not as much:

local hackspace

local cycle club

Local running club

Local team sports (real football, basketball, baseball, tennis, 5-a-side)

local choir (secular)

Amateur dramatics (highly recommended, darling.)

Free, but with connotations

Scouting adult leader

Local environmental people (ie park maintenance )

Animal shelter

charity shop

local choir (religious)

local organised religion

local political party organisation

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