Name: Anonymous 2017-12-23 8:22
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/dec/16/modern-life-lonely-isolation-hardwired-lives
I'm personally a recluse, so maybe it's not in my place to judge, as, although I'm employed, I'll go months without human contact, but it seems like loneliness is a plague in modern life, and it seems like every ``innovation'' in technology and social institutions makes it worse.
As more libraries are eliminated, people have less excuses to get out and do something positive in their lives. Even as a youth, I found it easier to get my hands on porn and drugs than it was to find a means of transport to my city library or museum. Hopefully gyms don't suffer the same fate, since they're the same in principle, although not publicly funded or publicly accessible.
I read an article recently that said that simply having a phone out while talking to another person makes you seem more antisocial. I don't own a smartphone. People tell me about how much smartphones improve their productivity, but I tried one once, and it seemed really inefficient at doing what are otherwise simple tasks on an actual desktop. Perhaps that's the appeal: smartphones are like a dripfeed of stimuli that you can use publicly under the pretense of productivity as a means of wasting your time, and, thus, not interacting with people.
Young people prefer wasting their money taking Uber rides than riding public transit or biking. Long conversations with friends improves your emotional stamina and empathy, and small instances of politeness (e.g. saying ``hello'' to your neighbor) improves your emotional outlook. It's true that you can oftentimes have negative interactions with strangers, and it's not like I think it's a good thing that we have to interact with so many people just to carry on with our daily lives, but, even as a hermit, I still think a modicum of positive social interaction is something that enriches our lives.
I'm personally a recluse, so maybe it's not in my place to judge, as, although I'm employed, I'll go months without human contact, but it seems like loneliness is a plague in modern life, and it seems like every ``innovation'' in technology and social institutions makes it worse.
As more libraries are eliminated, people have less excuses to get out and do something positive in their lives. Even as a youth, I found it easier to get my hands on porn and drugs than it was to find a means of transport to my city library or museum. Hopefully gyms don't suffer the same fate, since they're the same in principle, although not publicly funded or publicly accessible.
I read an article recently that said that simply having a phone out while talking to another person makes you seem more antisocial. I don't own a smartphone. People tell me about how much smartphones improve their productivity, but I tried one once, and it seemed really inefficient at doing what are otherwise simple tasks on an actual desktop. Perhaps that's the appeal: smartphones are like a dripfeed of stimuli that you can use publicly under the pretense of productivity as a means of wasting your time, and, thus, not interacting with people.
Young people prefer wasting their money taking Uber rides than riding public transit or biking. Long conversations with friends improves your emotional stamina and empathy, and small instances of politeness (e.g. saying ``hello'' to your neighbor) improves your emotional outlook. It's true that you can oftentimes have negative interactions with strangers, and it's not like I think it's a good thing that we have to interact with so many people just to carry on with our daily lives, but, even as a hermit, I still think a modicum of positive social interaction is something that enriches our lives.