[NFBF-L] FW: We’re living in a century of solitude

Sat Jan 11 17:33:17 UTC 2025

This is actually an ad for the Atlantic, but good news! You can read the below article on NFB Newsline® or from NLS BARD. Sounds like a very interesting article. I was especially interested in the assertion that because of society’s antisocial behavior, we are joining fewer groups. Perhaps that is the reason we sometimes have difficulty growing our chapters and affiliates. I am anxious to read the entire article. If you are not currently subscribed to NFB Newsline ® then call us at the number below my signature and a friendly marketer will be happy to help you. The forwarded article is below my signature. Have a good day and a great weekend.

Sherri Brun

 <mailto:flmom2006 at gmail.com> flmom2006 at gmail.com

Secretary, NFB of Florida

Newsline® volunteer

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From: Derek Thompson <email at theatlantic.com> 
Subject: We’re living in a century of solitude

Find out the consequences, and the cure, in The Atlantic’s new cover story |

  <https://link.theatlantic.com/img/6644d1ec6cb3b109b307bef9mpw58.2uck/d72240b9.gif> 

 <https://link.theatlantic.com/click/38159612.132644/aHR0cHM6Ly9hY2NvdW50cy50aGVhdGxhbnRpYy5jb20vcHJvZHVjdHMvP3V0bV9tZWRpdW09Y3ImdXRtX3NvdXJjZT1lbWFpbA/6644d1ec6cb3b109b307bef9Bb393f4f5> 

Get a new year of deep reporting, big ideas, and bold arguments.  <https://link.theatlantic.com/click/38159612.132644/aHR0cHM6Ly9hY2NvdW50cy50aGVhdGxhbnRpYy5jb20vcHJvZHVjdHMvP3V0bV9tZWRpdW09Y3ImdXRtX3NvdXJjZT1lbWFpbA/6644d1ec6cb3b109b307bef9Cb393f4f5> Subscribe to The Atlantic for less than $2 a week.

Dear Reader,

Americans are alone. Historically, unprecedentedly alone. 

Going back decades in official government data, I could find no period in U.S. history when the typical teenager or adult has ever spent less time with other people than they do today. This surge in solitude isn’t just altering the way we spend our time. It’s reshaping the economy, changing our personalities, and darkening our politics.

As I spent more time reporting, I realized that this phenomenon required a name. We needed a way to see how 21st-century aloneness had affected nearly every aspect of modern life. I decided to call it “ <https://link.theatlantic.com/click/38159612.132644/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cudGhlYXRsYW50aWMuY29tL21hZ2F6aW5lL2FyY2hpdmUvMjAyNS8wMi9hbWVyaWNhbi1sb25lbGluZXNzLXBlcnNvbmFsaXR5LXBvbGl0aWNzLzY4MTA5MS8_dXRtX21lZGl1bT1jciZ1dG1fc291cmNlPWVtYWls/6644d1ec6cb3b109b307bef9B95348c2c> the anti-social century,” and it is the subject of my new cover story in The Atlantic.

Before we go on, let me say something nice about introversion and being alone. I am an introvert. I often love being alone. As the father of a rambunctious infant, I know all too well how sacred and essential a moment of quiet can be.

But there is a difference between a moment’s quiet and a decade-over-decade plunge in socialization. From the 1960s to the 1990s, Americans became less likely to hang out, join clubs, and invite friends over for dinner. Then came the real crash. In the past 25 years, face-to-face socialization has collapsed for every age, ethnicity, and demographic. The pandemic did not create these trends, but it did exacerbate many of them.

The erosion of companionship has created odd and depressing distortions in American life: 

*	Men who watch TV now spend seven hours in front of the tube for every hour they spend with somebody outside their home. 
*	The typical female pet owner spends more time caring for her pet than she spends in face-to-face contact with friends of her own species. 
*	Today’s teenagers have fewer friends than previous generations, and they spend one out of every three minutes of waking life staring at a screen.

My story visits some dark corners of American life. I consider the way that excessive alone time might be a major force behind the rise in anxiety, our deep political divisions, and our unhappiness. I report from the frontier of “AI companions,” which already have tens of millions of users, and think about how the age of artificial intelligence could deepen our retreat from the physical world.

But my story ends with hope. If excessive solitude is bad for us, then at least this is a malady with a known, effective, and affordable cure: hanging out. One study by researchers at the University of Chicago concluded that many people “mistakenly seek” too much solitude for themselves. We withdraw from much social exchange out of anxiety or fear, when in fact even self-described introverts are often happier when they are forced to behave just a little bit more like extroverts.  

We seem to live in an age of tremendous fear, anxiety, and reclusion. I believe a happier life is possible. But I believe that happier life will require that we take a risk, leave our homes, and spend more time with other people. 

If you’d like to read the story, and support this reporting, I hope you’ll  <https://link.theatlantic.com/click/38159612.132644/aHR0cHM6Ly9hY2NvdW50cy50aGVhdGxhbnRpYy5jb20vcHJvZHVjdHMvP3V0bV9tZWRpdW09Y3ImdXRtX3NvdXJjZT1lbWFpbA/6644d1ec6cb3b109b307bef9Fb393f4f5> become a subscriber. 

Derek Thompson

Staff writer

 <https://link.theatlantic.com/click/38159612.132644/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cudGhlYXRsYW50aWMuY29tL21hZ2F6aW5lL2FyY2hpdmUvMjAyNS8wMi9hbWVyaWNhbi1sb25lbGluZXNzLXBlcnNvbmFsaXR5LXBvbGl0aWNzLzY4MTA5MS8_dXRtX21lZGl1bT1jciZ1dG1fc291cmNlPWVtYWls/6644d1ec6cb3b109b307bef9C95348c2c> 

Illustration by Max Guther 

 <https://link.theatlantic.com/click/38159612.132644/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cudGhlYXRsYW50aWMuY29tL21hZ2F6aW5lL2FyY2hpdmUvMjAyNS8wMi9hbWVyaWNhbi1sb25lbGluZXNzLXBlcnNvbmFsaXR5LXBvbGl0aWNzLzY4MTA5MS8_dXRtX21lZGl1bT1jciZ1dG1fc291cmNlPWVtYWls/6644d1ec6cb3b109b307bef9D95348c2c> The Anti-Social Century

By Derek Thompson

Americans are now spending more time alone than ever. It’s changing our personalities, our politics, and even our relationship to reality.

 <https://link.theatlantic.com/click/38159612.132644/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cudGhlYXRsYW50aWMuY29tL21hZ2F6aW5lL2FyY2hpdmUvMjAyNS8wMi9hbWVyaWNhbi1sb25lbGluZXNzLXBlcnNvbmFsaXR5LXBvbGl0aWNzLzY4MTA5MS8_dXRtX21lZGl1bT1jciZ1dG1fc291cmNlPWVtYWls/6644d1ec6cb3b109b307bef9E95348c2c> Read the full story

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