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The Loneliness Epidemic

melmagazine.com

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Re: The Loneliness Epidemic

#51

Post by efa »

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…

This is being down voted but I think there is merit to what you are saying. Personally, I have a strong sense of community being a member of my church. I really consider it an extension of my family. People in the church care (the best they are able) for the needs of the elderly and those in need. There is a big loneliness problem with the elderly. Churches can certainly be a type of safety net.

Of course this isn't the only issue. Modern technology allows people to exist without interacting with another humans physically. This certainly is part of the problem.

Re: The Loneliness Epidemic

#52

Post by gxx »

Could it be that Facebook and social media in general are the cause?

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/05/is-face...

"Likes" and reading narcissistic postings probably are not a good substitute for real human contact, and the more people become addicted to social media the less real human contact they are likely to seek. Of course companies like Facebook and Google (YouTube) purposely design their offerings to be addictive and as we know additions can be detrimental to one's mental and physical health.

Re: The Loneliness Epidemic

#53

Post by magashna »

arvinsim wrote: post #47
dexwiz wrote: post #34

The Screen and the Job have displaced almost everything else is our lives. Loneliness is just a primary symptom. The Screen, whether it’s TV, computer, or phone, has supplanted almost all social interactions. This manifests itself in things like SitComs on TV (just a bunch of friends or family hanging out) or Social Media on phones. It’s very easy to fill the social needs of right now with a Screen. But under even a…

> The Job has completely taken over as a driving force in evaluating choices. Not to mention most of our time. People nowadays spend far more time at work than ever.

Than ever? Surely Americans in the industrial revolution worked longer.

Re: The Loneliness Epidemic

#54

Post by mox1 »

arvinsim wrote: post #47
dexwiz wrote: post #34

The Screen and the Job have displaced almost everything else is our lives. Loneliness is just a primary symptom. The Screen, whether it’s TV, computer, or phone, has supplanted almost all social interactions. This manifests itself in things like SitComs on TV (just a bunch of friends or family hanging out) or Social Media on phones. It’s very easy to fill the social needs of right now with a Screen. But under even a…

> The Job has completely taken over as a driving force in evaluating choices. Not to mention most of our time. People nowadays spend far more time at work than ever.

You think that today in 2019, we spend more time at "work" than at any other time in history? That's just false.

Over the 20th century here, work hours have slashed in half. Henry Ford introduced the 5 day work week in 1926, prior to that it was 6.

You think the average farmer in the late 1800's worked 40-50 hours? What about the average coal miner, or factory worker?

Re: The Loneliness Epidemic

#55

Post by billconan »

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 am not aware of any society that lasted without religion and had strong communal ties.

Take China for example, I don't think it is a country of religion, and on the other hand, I don't think the society lacks communal ties either.

Traditionally, the Chinese society is organized or bonded by ancestry roots. According to [1], people sharing the same ancestry root first formed tribes, tribes then grouped together to form states.

My last name, for example, came from a southern village in China. The village is also named by my last name. The majority people in the village share the same last name as mine, the rest are outside people who married to the village. The entire village can be traced back to a guy who settled there 1000 years ago. Not only they have a temple (or community center) to worship ancestors, they keep a Genealogy book to document the history. And this is just one example, there are many many villages like this.

It’s a bit like the houses in Game of Thrones.

Although, as modernization continues, this organization form is disappearing.

[1] https://yixi.tv/wanxiang/3/8

Re: The Loneliness Epidemic

#56

Post by [deleted] »

arvinsim wrote: post #47
dexwiz wrote: post #34

The Screen and the Job have displaced almost everything else is our lives. Loneliness is just a primary symptom. The Screen, whether it’s TV, computer, or phone, has supplanted almost all social interactions. This manifests itself in things like SitComs on TV (just a bunch of friends or family hanging out) or Social Media on phones. It’s very easy to fill the social needs of right now with a Screen. But under even a…

> The Job has completely taken over as a driving force in evaluating choices. Not to mention most of our time. People nowadays spend far more time at work than ever.

[deleted]

Re: The Loneliness Epidemic

#57

Post by bilbo0s »

dexwiz wrote: post #34

The Screen and the Job have displaced almost everything else is our lives. Loneliness is just a primary symptom. The Screen, whether it’s TV, computer, or phone, has supplanted almost all social interactions. This manifests itself in things like SitComs on TV (just a bunch of friends or family hanging out) or Social Media on phones. It’s very easy to fill the social needs of right now with a Screen. But under even a…

It's also interesting that nowadays when people lose their jobs, it triggers an almost existential crisis in them. It's kind of sad to watch.

I wish people could understand that they are more than their job. It's so ingrained in us though. One of the first things people asks each other is, "What do you do?" It encourages a definition of self that is centered on one's job.

If it weren't real life, I'd think I was watching a dystopian film at most social gatherings. :(

Re: The Loneliness Epidemic

#58

Post by JackFr »

mox1 wrote: post #54
arvinsim wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The Job has completely taken over as a driving force in evaluating choices. Not to mention most of our time. People nowadays spend far more time at work than ever.

You think that today in 2019, we spend more time at "work" than at any other time in history? That's just false. Over the 20th century here, work hours have slashed in half. Henry Ford introduced the 5 day work week in 1926, prior to that it was 6. You think the average farmer in the late 1800's worked 40-50 hours? What about the average coal miner, or factory worker?

And less of our time at work is spent actually working.

Re: The Loneliness Epidemic

#59

Post by defterGoose »

mises wrote: post #43
defterGoose wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you see that this is an extremely dogmatic view? If society has seemingly agreed that society needs government, part of society needs to actually administer that government.

> Can you see that this is an extremely dogmatic view? Snuck premise much? I doubt he'd agree that it's dogmatic, nor would I. Governments are certainly needed for certain things, but politicians tend to come up with problems to solve, or try to solve problems which they are not equipped to solve. They aren't really supposed to create a social order so much as a legal one, anyway. Even if the could, I'd see that as d…

> Governments are certainly needed for certain things, but politicians tend to come up with problems to solve, or try to solve problems which they are not equipped to solve.

This is why it's dogmatic. You can't agree that there are use cases and then in the same sentence denigrate all the use cases. Or... I guess you can, but...

> They aren't really supposed to create a social order so much as a legal one, anyway.

At the risk of being overly ontological, the legal order arises from the social order, since the law is simply a construct of beliefs that society nominally agrees on.

> Even if the could, I'd see that as disturbingly close to brain-washing...

...And there it is. It's ok to disagree with some things that politicians do. That doesn't mean there aren't good politicians.

Re: The Loneliness Epidemic

#60

Post by defterGoose »

bilbo0s wrote: post #57
dexwiz wrote: post #34

The Screen and the Job have displaced almost everything else is our lives. Loneliness is just a primary symptom. The Screen, whether it’s TV, computer, or phone, has supplanted almost all social interactions. This manifests itself in things like SitComs on TV (just a bunch of friends or family hanging out) or Social Media on phones. It’s very easy to fill the social needs of right now with a Screen. But under even a…

It's also interesting that nowadays when people lose their jobs, it triggers an almost existential crisis in them. It's kind of sad to watch. I wish people could understand that they are more than their job. It's so ingrained in us though. One of the first things people asks each other is, "What do you do?" It encourages a definition of self that is centered on one's job. If it weren't real life, I'd think I was watc…

I feel you brotha.

he said via a social network

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