matthewb
@matthewb
solving the loneliness epidemic should be a huge priority for most nation states, just a huge psychological and economic cost that we are silently bearing
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six
@six
how to solve?
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matthewb
@matthewb
it’s a bit like asking how to solve for encouraging people to have kids… we shouldn’t really have to incentivize this behaviour, it’s natural. so then the flip side is asking what is currently deterring this behaviour, and on the surface you might say social media algos, remote work, low wages and therefore lower discretionary spending. but somehow those answers feel very incomplete, like we’re staring down a larger more insidious problem. why aren’t we friendly with our neighbours anymore? how do we fix something so fundamental as relating to one another?
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erica
@erica
when did we stop being friendly with our neighbours? combo of identity politics + when it became okay to say the quiet part out loud and a lot of folks realized the possibility that their neighbours could have very different values than them (some of which remove bodily autonomy, right to get married, right for equal employment, etc)a we’re busy af now and don’t have the time to invest in relationships that require learning to hold different viewpoints than others around you at least that’s me pre-coffee Saturday morning initial gut thought on this
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studio whimsi
@whimsi.eth
scattered thoughts: - atheism promotes individuality and not community (religion is good at creating local community) - we overindex on global issues and underindex on local issues - we’ve financially incentivised everything (every action is a transaction) - we’re made to believe that unity is uniformity, not harmony - society is optimised for competition, not collaboration
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D-wayñe 🎩💜
@drrrner.eth
It’s fear and lack of trust. People have slowly lost faith in people. Instead, we’ve redirected that trust toward systems tech, routines, brands, institutions that feel predictable. Our jobs eat our time. Our screens eat our attention. And over time, society quietly redefined what counts as “fun.” The real epidemic isn’t just loneliness it’s a vibe shift in how we think about connection. We stopped believing other humans were worth the emotional risk.
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