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Loneliness is pervasive and rising, particularly among the young

economist.com

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Re: Loneliness is pervasive and rising, particularly among the young

#31

Post by ancarda »

0x4f3759df wrote: post #9
PeterStuer wrote: post #4

Another thing I wondered about is the impact of automation and volatility on, for lack of a better word 'involuntary' micro social interactions. Until fairly recently people had 'forced' social interactions when doing their finances, shopping etc. Even if involuntary they 'trained' people's social skills and withered away at their acquired/innate social anxiety. Furthermore, even in these situations the persons you i…

Someone once made the same point about fitness, you used to have to roll down your windows manually, but now its automatic. More and more muscle functions being eliminated by automation. Add them all up and it makes a difference.

That's a really interesting point. I recently bought an adjustable (height) desk and I use it on-and-off as a standing desk. I prefer to write code standing, and watch TV/play games sitting. To adjust the desk, I need to pull out a handle and turn it round and round for it to raise or lower. I need to do this a few times a day as I get tired of standing after some hours, which is a convenient stopping point to alternate tasks to take breaks from coding.

I was thinking of building a little motor that can raise and lower the desk, ideally to a voice command. Wouldn't it be neat to say ", (raise|lower) the desk"?

Honestly, I'm going to scrap that project right now. While it would be interesting to learn how to build it, you're completely right we're getting lazier every day. Maybe I should be raising and lowering the desk myself.

Thank you.

Re: Loneliness is pervasive and rising, particularly among the young

#32

Post by rgrieselhuber »

dclowd9901 wrote: post #30
ada1981 wrote: post #2

If anyone is looking for adventure and connection, I run a group called Founders Hike, which is what it sounds like. Founders get together to mastermind, hike and support each other about once a month. We have some really successful and amazing Founders. Nature is it’s own medicine, the community is great, and the wisdom runs deep. NYC / SF and chapters forming in other cities. Email me if you’d like to join, and I’l…

I can think of nothing more insufferable than being surrounded by wealthy people who are business-driven. Why does it have to be a “founders” hike? Why can’t people just fucking get together and hike?

I would be very surprised if anyone who would join a Founders Hike is wealthy as a founder, especially if they are suffering from loneliness.

Re: Loneliness is pervasive and rising, particularly among the young

#33

Post by 20after4 »

zeroxfe wrote: post #24
0x4f3759df wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Someone once made the same point about fitness, you used to have to roll down your windows manually, but now its automatic. More and more muscle functions being eliminated by automation. Add them all up and it makes a difference.

Now that many new cars are coming with have high-def wide-angle rear view cameras, I don't really need my neck muscles anymore. At some point we'll "evolve" to rocks... rocks with wifi.

That's already a thing: https://hackaday.io/project/2058-wifi-rocks

Re: Loneliness is pervasive and rising, particularly among the young

#34

Post by nickjj »

PeterStuer wrote: post #4

Another thing I wondered about is the impact of automation and volatility on, for lack of a better word 'involuntary' micro social interactions. Until fairly recently people had 'forced' social interactions when doing their finances, shopping etc. Even if involuntary they 'trained' people's social skills and withered away at their acquired/innate social anxiety. Furthermore, even in these situations the persons you i…

The cool thing is, you can still do all of those things today.

There's really nothing stopping you from walking into a grocery store and talking to people if you want.

You could also go outside for a walk to get some exercise. You'll meet plenty of people along the way (unless you live in the middle of no where).

Re: Loneliness is pervasive and rising, particularly among the young

#35

Post by dnomad »

PeterStuer wrote: post #4

Another thing I wondered about is the impact of automation and volatility on, for lack of a better word 'involuntary' micro social interactions. Until fairly recently people had 'forced' social interactions when doing their finances, shopping etc. Even if involuntary they 'trained' people's social skills and withered away at their acquired/innate social anxiety. Furthermore, even in these situations the persons you i…

It doesn't make any sense to blame technology.

Believe it or not there are plenty of other cultures that have access to the same technology but don't produce the extreme isolation that's common in the US. There's much more powerful forces at work here than online banking and ecommerce. The reality is that in the US and likely the UK traditional social networks and graces have disintegrated. It's a cultural issue which is mostly deliberate.

Re: Loneliness is pervasive and rising, particularly among the young

#36

Post by amelius »

madeuptempacct wrote: post #14
yters wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This was commonly understood in medieval times. Aquinas says our mutual dependency forms social ties.

This is kind out of scope, but ever since Deus Ex (the game), I have wondered what the big deal about Aquinas is. Never found his work all that interesting.

Could you explain, for people who don't know that game?

Re: Loneliness is pervasive and rising, particularly among the young

#37

Post by brador »

dghughes wrote: post #28
PeterStuer wrote: post #4

Another thing I wondered about is the impact of automation and volatility on, for lack of a better word 'involuntary' micro social interactions. Until fairly recently people had 'forced' social interactions when doing their finances, shopping etc. Even if involuntary they 'trained' people's social skills and withered away at their acquired/innate social anxiety. Furthermore, even in these situations the persons you i…

I agree with you 100% but I have an interesting personal anecdote, pretty much the opposite. When I was young I was very shy, painfully shy even into my early 20s. All social outings were family reunions or church. But I liked computers. So in the early 1990s I bought a computer and tried this thing called the Internet. By chance I discovered IRC. It was a world of strangers who interacted in real time. I could conve…

Or maybe you would have grown out of the shyness naturally over time as you found your place in the world and grew into an adult. Guess we’ll never know eh.

Re: Loneliness is pervasive and rising, particularly among the young

#38

Post by dannyw »

nickjj wrote: post #34
PeterStuer wrote: post #4

Another thing I wondered about is the impact of automation and volatility on, for lack of a better word 'involuntary' micro social interactions. Until fairly recently people had 'forced' social interactions when doing their finances, shopping etc. Even if involuntary they 'trained' people's social skills and withered away at their acquired/innate social anxiety. Furthermore, even in these situations the persons you i…

The cool thing is, you can still do all of those things today. There's really nothing stopping you from walking into a grocery store and talking to people if you want. You could also go outside for a walk to get some exercise. You'll meet plenty of people along the way (unless you live in the middle of no where).

That doesn’t address the point - which is that as a whole, micro-interactions are reducing. Just because you have the option, doesn’t mean people are doing it as much.

Re: Loneliness is pervasive and rising, particularly among the young

#39

Post by [deleted] »

PeterStuer wrote: post #4

Another thing I wondered about is the impact of automation and volatility on, for lack of a better word 'involuntary' micro social interactions. Until fairly recently people had 'forced' social interactions when doing their finances, shopping etc. Even if involuntary they 'trained' people's social skills and withered away at their acquired/innate social anxiety. Furthermore, even in these situations the persons you i…

[deleted]

Re: Loneliness is pervasive and rising, particularly among the young

#40

Post by kadendogthing »

nickjj wrote: post #34
PeterStuer wrote: post #4

Another thing I wondered about is the impact of automation and volatility on, for lack of a better word 'involuntary' micro social interactions. Until fairly recently people had 'forced' social interactions when doing their finances, shopping etc. Even if involuntary they 'trained' people's social skills and withered away at their acquired/innate social anxiety. Furthermore, even in these situations the persons you i…

The cool thing is, you can still do all of those things today. There's really nothing stopping you from walking into a grocery store and talking to people if you want. You could also go outside for a walk to get some exercise. You'll meet plenty of people along the way (unless you live in the middle of no where).

>There's really nothing stopping you

OP's point was that there's nothing forcing us to do those things, not that there are now barriers.

> You'll meet plenty of people along the way

If you talk to anyone walking/running in city centers prepare for harsh stares and people walking ever so slightly faster to get away from the presumably crazy guy. At least that's most definitely how I would react.

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