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Intentionally making close friends

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Re: Intentionally making close friends

#201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If people are going out of their way to approach you (especially women), then it's probably down to you being attractive or at the very least above average.

Something happened within the last year, either to the general social environment around me or my own demeanor. I used to be able to go out and speak to people, have convos, people would even approach me. This year has been much different though. When I go out no one wants to talk, except for straight lunatics. At the bar the other night the only guy who wanted to talk went on a tirade about “the Jews” and kept askin…

Surely a coincidence, but one of the last people I spontaneously socialized with seemed completely coherent and present, yet spent the better part of an hour warning me that jews are building a moon base to control the world from (with the help of Elon Musk of course).

I was left completely flabbergasted. He had a job, a good one, he was somewhat articulate, very friendly, and yet… Fully bought into the Jewish conspiracy, reptilian agenda type stuff. I couldn’t help but wonder if mild schizophrenia was involved.

At any rate, I’m content to keep to myself for longer than usual.

Re: Intentionally making close friends

#202

Disclaimer: no unsolicited advice please. I'm old(er) mid-40's, single, no kids, and never married. I don't have much family or close friends. Hookup culture is de rigueur but it doesn't interest me. Where I'm at, there isn't a context to meet people and most random people in public around keep to themselves and treat me like I'm invisible. I do volunteering but that also doesn't go anywhere. If you have to constantl…

Apologies if this is in the category of unsolicited advice. I noticed that you had a submission describing a similar problem set in the work setting, so I am seeing a theme. It sounds like you are in a lonely place and are hoping for something better.

There's no magic to it but I can recommend some things that work very well for me.

First, do you have a curiosity about people? The folks you're working with, or folks at your volunteering events - do you strike up a conversation? Do you know where people are from, what their families are like, what their hobbies are, what they think and worry about? I don't mean to encourage you to engage in robotic small talk, but asking you whether these things are actually of interest to you? Wanting to know someone is the first step of a relationship.

Assuming you have the interest, ask whether you've done anything to learn these things? If you realize that there are 30 people you could have known these things about but don't - why not? Are you very shy? Do you think people will think you're rude? Do you not know how to chat? Answer this for yourself and seek resources on-line for how to close those gaps. I went from a shy mush-mouth to a pretty good shmoozer in a few years, it's possible.

If you decide that you actually don't have an interest in people (like, you genuinely don't care what anyone's life is like) then there's a strong disconnect between than and the desire to have a family/kids/friendship. If you have the ability to, seek some sort of talk therapy to explore this question. Chances are there's some "wound" that's blocking your ability to want to connect with people if this is the case.

Finally, you sound like someone who closes doors before they are even open. I suspect when you say "hookup culture..." what you are really saying is "I have a reason for why I am not on dating apps." When you say "people treat me like I am invisible" - you are writing off an entire town as not being interested in you, which gives you an excuse to not try to connect with them (yet, somehow they had all met each other - so it's probably your vibes - and that's in your control to change). If you really believe that your location is a problem that's preventing you from having relationships, then move. If you have a desire for family and kids and you think that's not possible in your location, why are you there? (and, if you are about to give yourself an excuse as to why that's impossible, pay attention to that too)

Re: Intentionally making close friends

#203
post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right word, wrong meaning. In the result you quoted, a person's intelligence is being compared to that of a NPC, implying that the person can't think for themselves and does whatever they're told like how NPCs in games act. The gp seems to imply a slightly different meaning, where a person is thought of as being not being a real person, and is only someone you go to for transactional work related stuff.

Whichever meaning, NPC is a recent insidious method of dehumanizing people that ranks right up there with labels like "pigs," "rats," and "cockroaches." This tactic is essentially a first prerequisite for mass violence. It's sure to increase incidences of mentally ill shooters viewing everyone around them as bots in a video game. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/26330024209169... https://www.npr.org/2011…

I was extremely disheartened to hear my son describe someone as an NPC the other day. It really only functions to belittle and negatively categorize people. Worse still is that if someone truly does lack cognitive ability such that they do “follow the script”, the last thing they need is someone perhaps only marginally more intelligent to identify and discriminate their deficits.

It’s just a miserable lens to view others through. It’s quite popular with the kids, though.

Perhaps it’s better than what I grew up with, which was calling anything you didn’t like “gay” or “faggy”. Ugh. Sometimes we set a low bar.

Re: Intentionally making close friends

#204

It's a great article, but is not the way that I have worked. I'm a bit "spectrumish." I'd make a great hermit. I don't really find a need to have close relationships. One thing that I've found in any relationship, is that a "power dynamic" changes things a lot. Most romantic or working relationships have a "power dynamic," where one party has some kind of leverage over the other, or that one party gets more from the…

// Most romantic or working relationships have a "power dynamic," where one party has some kind of leverage over the other,

This is a very weird way to think about it. Something I realized after I got married and bought a house and had kids, is that I love it and none of it would be possible without my wife. Likewise, she couldn't have any of this without me. We are partners.

If we wanted to look for power imbalances, we could find them. Like, we could obsess over who makes more money, or does more child care, or who had a greater impact on our selection of where we live etc, but that would be a very weird thing to put front and center. Much more importantly is that both of us are willing to put a lot into the relationship and consistently get even more out of it, enabling us to lead deeply meaningful lives together.

Re: Intentionally making close friends

#205
I often find myself in a situation where someone is monologuing and I'm listening but I'm not very interested and I don't know how to pull out. I wonder if anyone can offer advice.

(I haven't finished reading the article yet; if I find an interesting answer from the article, I'll reply to my own post)

Re: Intentionally making close friends

#206
post #162
post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quoted post unavailable.

> it's just a matter of priorities. by that metric, most people's lives are nothing but failure. Everybody has a human need for companionship and to feel like they belong. That's hard to accomplish when juxtaposed against an economic system pushes people to work first and live second. BTW Bezos is about as poor an example as you could pick. He absolutely has more free time than I do, unless by some miracle he cooks,…

this actually sounds to me in agreement

1. yes, the priorities might be skewed

2. you just demonstrated that even Bezos is definitely not free from obligations and time commitments, such as his marriage, running a huge company, etc. The fact that he can afford to do anything in the world money-wise does not relieve even him from having to make "free time" to spend on family or else it will fail, etc. So, totally a matter of priorities.

Re: Intentionally making close friends

#207

It's a great article, but is not the way that I have worked. I'm a bit "spectrumish." I'd make a great hermit. I don't really find a need to have close relationships. One thing that I've found in any relationship, is that a "power dynamic" changes things a lot. Most romantic or working relationships have a "power dynamic," where one party has some kind of leverage over the other, or that one party gets more from the…

// Most romantic or working relationships have a "power dynamic," where one party has some kind of leverage over the other, This is a very weird way to think about it. Something I realized after I got married and bought a house and had kids, is that I love it and none of it would be possible without my wife. Likewise, she couldn't have any of this without me. We are partners. If we wanted to look for power imbalances…

> This is a very weird way to think about it.

Got it in one. I’m pretty weird. I assume that my friends, acquaintances, and others, are also weird, as I read about that, in some book (can’t remember which one). It was one of those “Things that make you go ‘hmmm…’.” things.

But if it makes you feel better to call me “weird,” knock yourself out.

Re: Intentionally making close friends

#209

This is way too complicated. All you have do is show up to the same place regularly to places where other people also show up regularly. School, work, dog park, gym, etc.

That's quite obviously not true, because almost everyone shows up to places regularly, and some people fail to make friends. Unless you assume that all the people who are having trouble making friends are jobless independently-wealthy agoraphobic shut-ins.

Re: Intentionally making close friends

#210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait, you're saying you can't relate anymore because you don't have close friends anymore and don't want any? Or because you have close friends naturally so don't need to analyze how to do it? I am older than my 20s, and have moved jobs and cities a couple times, but I don't have a spouse or kids. I still have some close friends (including one or two i've had since my 20s and one or two i've met subsequently), but wo…

That I had close friends until I got older and had more responsibilities in life. That I relate with how to do it, but I don't have time to do it because it is not as important to me at this stage in my life.

I honestly can't imagine close friends not being important to me!
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