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Yoghurt delivery women combatting loneliness in Japan

bbc.com

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Re: Yoghurt delivery women combatting loneliness in Japan

#211

Post by baxtr »

dang wrote: post #144
hamasho wrote: post #136

I grew up on a small village in a small island. The yogurt lady was an essential part of the community. Many stay-at-home moms (including my mom) seemed to enjoy her visit. She and my mom talked a lot, sometimes for hours (I still can't figure out how she completed her job when she spent so much time with one person). They chatted about recent events, like the daughter of the fisherman gave birth, the great-grandpa o…

This is one for https://news.ycombinator.com/highlights (I mention this so more people can know the list exists, and hopefully email us more nominations)

@dang, how do you curate these? Manually?

Have you thought about sourcing these by looking at the most favorited comments per week?

Re: Yoghurt delivery women combatting loneliness in Japan

#212

Post by dang »

baxtr wrote: post #211
dang wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is one for https://news.ycombinator.com/highlights (I mention this so more people can know the list exists, and hopefully email us more nominations)

@dang, how do you curate these? Manually? Have you thought about sourcing these by looking at the most favorited comments per week?

Manually, some by ourselves and some nominated by readers.

That's a good idea btw - here are some of the most-favorited comments from this past week:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47258500

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47238442

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47237467

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47232961

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47226535

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47214629

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47210627

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47206393

Only a couple of those were already in /highlights.

I'm not sure yet whether this is good enough to be an automatic feed into /highlights but I could imagine adding aggregated /favorites pages to https://news.ycombinator.com/lists.

Re: Yoghurt delivery women combatting loneliness in Japan

#214

Post by gozucito »

Aaargh20318 wrote: post #21

Every time I read an article about people trying to solve the 'loneliness epidemic' I can't help but wonder if we're not trying to solve the wrong problem. Maybe the solution should not be sought in trying to increase social connections but in eliminating our need for social contact. This dependence on other humans has always felt like a flaw to me. Note that I'm not saying that human contact is bad, just that our pa…

At first, I laughed.

But it's a good question. My answer is social contact sharpens our mind. Without it, we would be stupider. And God knows we're stupid enough as it is without degrading our intellectual faculties further.

At a basic level, loners will get hunted down by tribes because they are easy prey and because their behavior can be misconstrued or spun by grifters as nefarious because they are different.

Re: Yoghurt delivery women combatting loneliness in Japan

#215

Post by susiecambria »

This story and many of the comments illustrate the need for and value of human connection. The Yakult Lady is akin to Men's Sheds and long table events (The Longest Table, Longer Tables). Also on the continuum of connection building is the Friendship Bench.

These are all interesting to me. But of late, I've honed in on the challenge faced by those who are transitioning from one stage of life or circumstance to another. While working and raising a family, work-related activities such as Toastmasters and family-related ones like church or scouts or athletics, may drive participation in groups. But moving from that through a divorce or RIF or retirement may end previous activities and leave a person with no idea what to do next.

Re: Yoghurt delivery women combatting loneliness in Japan

#216

Post by the_af »

mock-possum wrote: post #205
nobodyandproud wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://fablesofaesop.com/the-fox-who-lost-his-tail.html

Holy shit is this an allegory for circumcision??

I don't think so, no.

The person being circumcized doesn't usually get to decide or even understand what's going on.

Re: Yoghurt delivery women combatting loneliness in Japan

#217

Post by [deleted] »

Telaneo wrote: post #114
aliher1911 wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So is food. If we switch to IV feeding you can also avoid many harms food and drink brings. We can do a soylent green as a stopgap.

I'm not a big fan of eating, so yes please? Even if I then want to indulge in something tasty every now and then, the option to just 'top up' without actually eating is hugely attractive.

[deleted]

Re: Yoghurt delivery women combatting loneliness in Japan

#218

Post by [deleted] »

mock-possum wrote: post #207
pstuart wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So if your wife and kids vanished the next day would the solo adventures be enough? Having gone through divorce/empty nest and working remotely it's been quite challenging to avoid depression.

I feel like this just further reinforces the point - that need for social connection is a weakness. I love my husband dearly, and I’d morn him if he vanished, but it wouldn’t make my life hard to live by any means - I lived just fine before him, and I’ll live just fine after him. I didn’t marry him because I needed somebody , I married him because I wanted him . I love him and I’m lucky to have him, but I also love m…

[deleted]

Re: Yoghurt delivery women combatting loneliness in Japan

#219

Post by the_af »

analog8374 wrote: post #131
Aaargh20318 wrote: post #21

Every time I read an article about people trying to solve the 'loneliness epidemic' I can't help but wonder if we're not trying to solve the wrong problem. Maybe the solution should not be sought in trying to increase social connections but in eliminating our need for social contact. This dependence on other humans has always felt like a flaw to me. Note that I'm not saying that human contact is bad, just that our pa…

The part of the brain that needs human contact could be chemically or surgically neutralized.

As a two for one, we could also chemically excise the need to enjoy food, so we could consume some tasteless nutritive slop while spending 100% of our time in front of a computer, being that mythical 10x programmer.

Just think of all the value we could add.

Re: Yoghurt delivery women combatting loneliness in Japan

#220

Post by slim »

mock-possum wrote: post #208
slim wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

have you ever been by yourself for more than a few weeks ? you would find out that even you need to see people after having spent enough time alone. and it hurts if you're unable to see people when you feel that urge. it's a real human need

You’re projecting, not everyone is so desperate for human connection. Spending a few weeks completely alone sounds like heaven to me.

It sounded like heaven to me too before experiencing it
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