The Loneliness Epidemic • Hacker News Board

Re: The Loneliness Epidemic

#11

Post by xamuel » Thu, Jul 18, 2019, 2:08 PM UTC

rofo1 wrote: post #3

It only makes sense for this epidemic to take place in the society we've developed. We are tearing apart the fabric and the bond that kept everyone feeling as a part of community; namely, religion. Religion was never designed for people to fear the man upstairs; it was always about the values and the bond it created between each member of that religion. Individualism and decadence are being more or less encouraged, o…

Very true. People think of verses like Leviticus 20:13 (homosexuals condemned to death) but forget verses like John 8:7, "Let he who is without sin throw the first stone."

Perhaps one of the most relevant teachings of Jesus is from his Discourse on the Church when he says: "For where two or three gather together in My name, there am I with them." (Matthew 18:20)

Re: The Loneliness Epidemic

#12

Post by SolaceQuantum » Thu, Jul 18, 2019, 2:09 PM UTC

rofo1 wrote: post #3

It only makes sense for this epidemic to take place in the society we've developed. We are tearing apart the fabric and the bond that kept everyone feeling as a part of community; namely, religion. Religion was never designed for people to fear the man upstairs; it was always about the values and the bond it created between each member of that religion. Individualism and decadence are being more or less encouraged, o…

"Since in 2019, you can't say: religion, race, nationality and nation without being labeled one way or another."

I think this implies this has not always been the case, which I don't think is true, at least in my country in USA. People came to America partially to avoid religious persecution. And of course, slaves were also brought to America and a whole field of pseudoscience was created to explore how black people deserved their enslavement.

Re: The Loneliness Epidemic

#13

Post by defterGoose » Thu, Jul 18, 2019, 2:12 PM UTC

Tade0 wrote: post #10

rofo1 wrote: post #3

It only makes sense for this epidemic to take place in the society we've developed. We are tearing apart the fabric and the bond that kept everyone feeling as a part of community; namely, religion. Religion was never designed for people to fear the man upstairs; it was always about the values and the bond it created between each member of that religion. Individualism and decadence are being more or less encouraged, o…

I grew up in a highly conservative and (according to statistics) religious society (Poland) and my observation is that it's not correlated. People who sought company in church were often disappointed, because most of the others who went there had lives of their own and weren't that invested in the whole thing. Hell, the loneliest people I know are consistently religious.

So, there's a difference between being superficially and wholeheartedly invested in the whole thing? Yeah, that makes sense.

Re: The Loneliness Epidemic

#14

Post by Kaiyou » Thu, Jul 18, 2019, 2:12 PM UTC

yters wrote: post #4

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…

People occasionally ring my doorbell. I always pretend to not be at home. Clearly, there's a flaw in your solution.

Re: The Loneliness Epidemic

#15

Post by jressey » Thu, Jul 18, 2019, 2:14 PM UTC

trentnix wrote: post #2

When politicians are staging national interventions to force us to connect with each other — and actually spending real money on the problem — you know it’s a genuine crisis No. Politicians throwing money at something is not evidence of a crisis.

It is if the something genuinely helps people.

Re: The Loneliness Epidemic

#16

Post by kodz4 » Thu, Jul 18, 2019, 2:15 PM UTC

Ants don't meet at the bar at the end of the day to chill with each other. It isn't necessary. And their society isn't unraveling.

The more connected the human ant hill gets the more we will behave like ants. Disconnected because we don't need to be as connected. Connected because that is the only way to survive. Those that can't handle the change...wont. This is a process of societal metamorphosis whose tracks have already been laid.

Re: The Loneliness Epidemic

#17

Post by radcon » Thu, Jul 18, 2019, 2:16 PM UTC

At the risk of sounding like a crazy hippy, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that some kind of subsistence-based neighborhoods would be a great option for dealing with this problem.

Not only would it provide some relief from the feeling of being shackled to bullshit jobs for life if you don't want to starve to death, it would also help foster much stronger communities.

Re: The Loneliness Epidemic

#18

Post by defterGoose » Thu, Jul 18, 2019, 2:16 PM UTC

xamuel wrote: post #11

rofo1 wrote: post #3

It only makes sense for this epidemic to take place in the society we've developed. We are tearing apart the fabric and the bond that kept everyone feeling as a part of community; namely, religion. Religion was never designed for people to fear the man upstairs; it was always about the values and the bond it created between each member of that religion. Individualism and decadence are being more or less encouraged, o…

Very true. People think of verses like Leviticus 20:13 (homosexuals condemned to death) but forget verses like John 8:7, "Let he who is without sin throw the first stone." Perhaps one of the most relevant teachings of Jesus is from his Discourse on the Church when he says: "For where two or three gather together in My name, there am I with them." (Matthew 18:20)

Yeah, as someone who was raised in the church but never considered myself very religious, it's a little sad to see people misunderstand that there are two types of churchgoers: those who are dogmatic and superficially faithful and those who take scripture as a dialogue on how to live a good life.

Re: The Loneliness Epidemic

#19

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Jul 18, 2019, 2:16 PM UTC

xamuel wrote: post #11

rofo1 wrote: post #3

It only makes sense for this epidemic to take place in the society we've developed. We are tearing apart the fabric and the bond that kept everyone feeling as a part of community; namely, religion. Religion was never designed for people to fear the man upstairs; it was always about the values and the bond it created between each member of that religion. Individualism and decadence are being more or less encouraged, o…

Very true. People think of verses like Leviticus 20:13 (homosexuals condemned to death) but forget verses like John 8:7, "Let he who is without sin throw the first stone." Perhaps one of the most relevant teachings of Jesus is from his Discourse on the Church when he says: "For where two or three gather together in My name, there am I with them." (Matthew 18:20)

[deleted]

Re: The Loneliness Epidemic

#20

Post by Tade0 » Thu, Jul 18, 2019, 2:17 PM UTC

defterGoose wrote: post #13

Tade0 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I grew up in a highly conservative and (according to statistics) religious society (Poland) and my observation is that it's not correlated. People who sought company in church were often disappointed, because most of the others who went there had lives of their own and weren't that invested in the whole thing. Hell, the loneliest people I know are consistently religious.

So, there's a difference between being superficially and wholeheartedly invested in the whole thing? Yeah, that makes sense.

From what I've experienced there are levels to it and apparently you only click with somebody who's into it on the same level.

I guess this is not restricted to religion.