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Older Americans are alone half their waking hours, on average

pewresearch.org

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Re: Older Americans are alone half their waking hours, on average

#41

Post by Ididntdothis »

ryanmercer wrote: post #13

I'm 34 and once you add in the weekends I am and talking is extremely discouraged at work, in an open office, so even at work you're basically alone just siting there listening to music or podcasts all day. At Gym1 I talk to my lifting coach but most of the time I'm in my head focused on training, after that at Gym2 I'm just trying to do my accessory work and conditioning and don't talk to anyone other than "hey" bac…

“talking is extremely discouraged at work, in an open office, so even at work you're basically alone just siting there listening to music or podcasts all day”

That’s the nutty thing about open office. The thing that’s officially supposed to encourage collaboration leads to people sitting there with headphones trying to isolate themselves and rules to not talk to each other.

Re: Older Americans are alone half their waking hours, on average

#42

Post by Circuits »

Personally, I have gotten somewhat use to being alone. I can only imagine what it must feel like too someone who has spent the majority of their lives with someone else. I think I will start visiting a senior living facility with some of my spare time each week. If you are alone and its weighing you down then my heart goes out to you.

Re: Older Americans are alone half their waking hours, on average

#43

Post by mykowebhn »

YeahSureWhyNot wrote: post #35

That's not a bad thing, people she embrace loneliness and learn to be able to enjoy it. What's the point of speaking about it like it's some kind of a problem with the person. If someone wants company then they can go socialize with whoever is available, otherwise maybe they don't wanna socialize with what's available and prefer to just chill on their own.

While you make a good point, I think you're missing the distinction between people who choose to be alone and people who are alone not by choice.

Re: Older Americans are alone half their waking hours, on average

#45

Post by fipar »

swiley wrote: post #4

Stop making assumptions about other people (they’re lazy/dangerous/whatever) and go out and be friendly. This Wednesday I wandered around the city playing ukulele at 3 in the morning and I met all kinds of interesting people, everything from this beautiful female graduate student who just wanted to talk about schoastics to someone who wanted me to call his “friend in Florida.” Just go out and be with people, they’re…

"You'll minimize some strangers' sadness with a piece of wood and plastic, Holy fuck it's so fantastic playing ukelele"

Re: Older Americans are alone half their waking hours, on average

#46

Post by analognoise »

willyg123 wrote: post #10

A YC company, Papa, is trying to solve this problem joinpapa.com

Tech ruined privacy, the internet, and large parts of democracy.

I think maybe it's time we put tech where it belongs: in the damn trunk.

Going to a YC company to fulfill a basic human need is exactly why tech belongs in aforementioned trunk.

Re: Older Americans are alone half their waking hours, on average

#47

Post by jacobmoe »

ixtli wrote: post #17

As an anecdote, I've lived the majority of my life in America (born and raised middle class on the east coast in a wealthy area) and if I was tasked with writing an account of my time here it would be focused around one thing: alienation. American life is atomized and consistently getting more so. For anyone who sits around and thinks about why people are the way they are here I highly encourage you to consider that…

This seems right to me. I would point out that you don't have to live a 20 minute drive from anything to be alone. Loneliness is as much a problem in cities as anywhere else.

Also, isn't loneliness also a major issue in other cultures, like Scandinavian or Japanese cultures?

Re: Older Americans are alone half their waking hours, on average

#48

Post by Ididntdothis »

swiley wrote: post #4

Stop making assumptions about other people (they’re lazy/dangerous/whatever) and go out and be friendly. This Wednesday I wandered around the city playing ukulele at 3 in the morning and I met all kinds of interesting people, everything from this beautiful female graduate student who just wanted to talk about schoastics to someone who wanted me to call his “friend in Florida.” Just go out and be with people, they’re…

You have to understand that this is more difficult for some people than it is for others. If it works for you, good for you, but it’s not an option for others.

I don’t have the ability to “just” go out and meet people and strike up a conversation.

Re: Older Americans are alone half their waking hours, on average

#49

Post by tvanantwerp »

My mother has been living alone for over a decade now. Luckily for her, she's very introverted--alone is her preference. Sitting in her rocking chair, reading a mystery novel, is exactly what she wants out of life.

I'm sure this isn't normal, particularly for extroverts. My wife doesn't understand it at all. But I take after my mom, and I 100% know that she feels fine with a minimum of human interaction. I do feel bad for the people who aren't like her, though.

Re: Older Americans are alone half their waking hours, on average

#50

Post by AnIdiotOnTheNet »

ixtli wrote: post #17

As an anecdote, I've lived the majority of my life in America (born and raised middle class on the east coast in a wealthy area) and if I was tasked with writing an account of my time here it would be focused around one thing: alienation. American life is atomized and consistently getting more so. For anyone who sits around and thinks about why people are the way they are here I highly encourage you to consider that…

I think there's another part of it: It is easier to sell things to people who are discontent, and the human animal is a social one that isn't usually content with isolation. I'm not saying this is some kind of conscious conspiracy, but along with fetishizing rugged individualism America also fetishizes the market. We encourage things that make the amount of money moving around increase, and discourage the opposite.
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