Start doing more things alone

Researchers have nothing better to do than explore the harmless neuroses of the middle class?

Oh, this research is very much in the interest of the businesses — because staying at home also means spending less money. The idea is that if the taboo around "having fun" — aka spending money — alone is broken, then well… profit! This article of course contributes to these interests.

Personally I think time spent at home is can be as good as time spent out side of home. The article in question does not do any comparative study — it is just assumed that staying at home means not having fun.

I do quite a few things alone, myself and I do generally tend to have a good time. In some cases, I actually have a better time than I expect I would with others.

I like to go on drives into the middle of nowhere, usually deciding what turn to take when I take the turn. Some other person would just be sitting in the car blinking as I thought that one dirt road with no one on it was /the best/ turn to make at this second.

Or, I'll go to the zoo, and take photographs; but, that's not something that's very fun to do with other people. I fear they'll get bored as I decide to sit by a single animal enclosure for the next two hours, just waiting for the creature there to do something photo-worthy.

I also often go out to eat alone. I have weird feeding schedules, and sometimes I want to eat somewhere nice, so ... bleh. I actually don't feel too bad about eating alone, but sometimes it could be quite a bit more fun to do it in a group.

I do prefer to see movies with friends, though. There's the discussion about the movie immediately after seeing it that I quite enjoy.

I also prefer to participate in extreme sports with others. Maybe not going with them the whole time the extreme sport is happening; but, there is safety in numbers in an activity that you could literally die from.

..

Long story short, for people that haven't done things alone for the awkwardness reasons. I encourage you to try it. It can be quite a lot of fun, depending on the activity.

The downside is you have no one to recount the experience with later on, you might tell people about it but no one will ever understand what it was like unless they were there with you.

Ya, I agree with you. I have to call bullshit on the part that says, "In the fifth, Ratner and Hamilton put the preferences to the test by gauging whether people actually enjoyed visiting an art gallery more when they were in the company of others, compared to when they were alone."

I used to have a museum membership so I could go everyday for free if I wanted to. I often went every other day just to get coffee, or to use the free wifi for work. It was subjectively a very different experience than being with someone.

I am pretty sure if you measured something like endorphins or blood pressure, you'd see there was more enjoyment with someone than without. There are tons of studies that already do this, e.g. the ones written up by UCSF profs in "A General Theory of Love."