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The pandemic has deepened an epidemic of loneliness

mcc.gse.harvard.edu

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Re: The pandemic has deepened an epidemic of loneliness

#91

Post by panaffa »

mrdoops wrote: post #14
jbrun wrote: post #4

It's a bit paradoxical. I have a tech company and most staff want to come to the office 1 day a week. Getting them to come is very tough. Many of my staff and friends don't want to have kids, make no effort to find a partner and find all sorts of excuses. Netflix, the internet and these things are part of the problem, but I have no clue what the solution is. There is only one way to not be lonely - be with people who…

They need stable, actionable futures. Homes they can afford to own, communities they can raise kids in, an environment that won't go up in flames; they need systems that have their back.

Good point on agency. Throughout their lives GenZ has either had less agency or felt like we have less agency to do what we want. Certainly true for some financial goals like buying a house

Re: The pandemic has deepened an epidemic of loneliness

#92

Post by anotherman554 »

mandmandam wrote: post #48
anotherman554 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Poor people are often forced to have roommates, live with their parents, or otherwise maintain relationships for economic reasons. I wouldn't expect poor people to necessarily be more lonely.

Ah yes, nothing like being forced to live with strangers and parents to solve loneliness. Seriously? If you care to look, there is actually a lot of research pointing that the pandemic affected the poor's ability to voluntarily socialize compared to the wealthy. If you think about it, it's incredibly obvious. And yet these authors didn't mention the idea once. That's unconscionable, if unsurprising.

Roommates are not necessarily strangers. If you are arguing living with parents doesn't decrease loneliness over living alone... I'm going to argue that's a non intuitive argument. That doesn't mean you are wrong necessarily but it does mean I'm probably going to question it.

As far as I can tell this hasn't really been studied, at least this paper from 2019 on loneliness says "There is virtually no literature that looks at socioeconomic status as the independent variable."

https://soundideas.pugetsound.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?articl...

It does appear to be an issue with older adults I suppose:

https://www.healio.com/news/psychiatry/20210324/socioeconomi...

Re: The pandemic has deepened an epidemic of loneliness

#93

Post by jbrun »

ljm wrote: post #73
jbrun wrote: post #4

It's a bit paradoxical. I have a tech company and most staff want to come to the office 1 day a week. Getting them to come is very tough. Many of my staff and friends don't want to have kids, make no effort to find a partner and find all sorts of excuses. Netflix, the internet and these things are part of the problem, but I have no clue what the solution is. There is only one way to not be lonely - be with people who…

You really have to know how to look after yourself, and be happy with yourself, before you can really bring another person into the mix in the form of a committed relationship (using the example of people not having partners or not thinking about children). There's been an expectation for a long time that your self-worth as a person is connected to being with someone else, and therefore your path to increase self-wor…

The comments below echo what I think. We are social animals, deal with it.

Re: The pandemic has deepened an epidemic of loneliness

#94

Post by panaffa »

cglan wrote: post #66

My general opinion as a young adult is that both the design of our cities and suburbs (making general hanging out a huge chore) and the past two years which have forced many people to be anti social have been devastating. The most social times for me are always when my friends are easily accessible through walking. These days getting people to come over is so difficult and the lack of good public transit options make…

Yup!! I've been lonely for a long time and for a year or two become obsessed with urban design as one of the many factors that can isolate us and make us feel inhuman. Hope it improves for the sake of future generations

Re: The pandemic has deepened an epidemic of loneliness

#95

Post by helpfulmandrill »

schnevets wrote: post #21

Transitioning from a college internship to my first job, I had an excellent boss/mentor who explained the importance of my first salary. Studies proved a clear correlation between first salary and overall earning potential; obviously, workers will gain experience, change roles, and may make dramatic changes over their working life, but that first step in the professional world made a clear impression. Based on these…

TIL that my career was doomed from the beginning! :)

Re: The pandemic has deepened an epidemic of loneliness

#96

Post by [deleted] »

turbinerneiter wrote: post #46
JKCalhoun wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> buying things I definitely see this.

I currently struggle to buy anything that would have a positive effect on my happiness. I got a motorcycle two years ago, and while I do pretty few miles, it provided quite some happiness (going on Saturday rides with a friend, general added feeling of "freedom" because of having a way to escape the city and also do short trips I usually would fret about which public transport to take or if it makes sense to use cars…

[deleted]

Re: The pandemic has deepened an epidemic of loneliness

#97

Post by dave78 »

dfxm12 wrote: post #64

Looking at the key recommendations, there appears to be a policy aspect playing into this as well. If you feel lonely, consider this at the polls - Who is advocating for social infrastructure and having a commitment to more than ourselves, including those who are vulnerable? On the flip side, be wary of those pushing personal liberty above all else and those who are trying to damage public health campaigns and instit…

What about the policy aspect of telling people to isolate at home, avoid friends and family and other social gatherings, etc. for nearly 2 years now?

I'm not a fan of making everything a political issue, but since you went there - I see one group of politicians actively trying to cut us off from each other (well-intentioned or not) with venue closures, capacity limits, travel restrictions, event cancellation, recommendations to avoid gatherings, etc. and the other side trending more towards encouraging people to get back out there in the world and start interacting again.

Re: The pandemic has deepened an epidemic of loneliness

#98

Post by singhrac »

cglan wrote: post #66

My general opinion as a young adult is that both the design of our cities and suburbs (making general hanging out a huge chore) and the past two years which have forced many people to be anti social have been devastating. The most social times for me are always when my friends are easily accessible through walking. These days getting people to come over is so difficult and the lack of good public transit options make…

Sometimes I'm surprised by how shockingly unwalkable certain areas of Manhattan are. Why are the residential areas of Hudson Yards so terribly unfriendly to people who want to "hang out"? Because all of the third places [0] are purely commercial, rather than a mix of commercial and social. European cities do this much much better.

At least in New York there are plenty of parks (including a mix of commercialized like Domino Park and the High Line and more raw, like parts of Central Park and west side near the river). I can't imagine being in a city with poor public design, like SF.

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_place

Re: The pandemic has deepened an epidemic of loneliness

#99

Post by 0des »

strikelaserclaw wrote: post #80
0des wrote: post #33

We are victims of our own comfort. It's easier to stay home in our filter bubbles unchallenged. People don't know how to socialize these days, it's easier to flick idly through facebook. Awkward conversations with strangers don't happen anymore, because the second a familiar conversation with the bartender ends, everyone reaches into their pockets and retreats back into their digital security blankets. Try having a c…

absolutely, most humans are hardwired to seek path of least resistance, since our environment changed rapidly, the path of least resistance for many is indulging in fast foods and becoming obese, indulging in the fast food of social interaction through social media and becoming disconnected, unhappy etc... Technology and order seems to at once statistically lower human suffering and seems to increase spiritual suffer…

Thanks for the reply, you hit the nail right on the head. Your comment also inspired an interesting thought, that "diet" is not just what we eat, it's what we consume in general, which includes content. I had not thought of that before.

Re: The pandemic has deepened an epidemic of loneliness

#100

Post by panaffa »

panaffa wrote: post #49

I'm a young GenZ adult. Just woke up and got depressed seeing this headline because it reinforces what I've experienced & felt. Loneliness is inherent to the human body and soul (unless perhaps we get Neuralink or AI friends someday). I am deeply sad over all the social fantasies I never had and probably never will now that I'm a working adult.

Saw that my above comment in which I opened up about my loneliness got down voted. This is why I withdraw from society and experience loneliness. Loneliness is the fundamental nature of my existence; it is a deep spiritual feeling that is both tragic yet freeing. Read about Buddhism they understand how to redirect loneliness in a positive direction.
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