All Alone in the Midst of Many : Part 2

Today's post is the second in the series "All Alone in the Midst of Many. A series on the trend of social isolation in America. Again I hope these posts cause you to consider your own relationships and social habits and that you would be challenged in both thought and deed.


Shelley Taylor, a psychologist at the University of California at Los Angeles says, “Our need for social contact is so fundamental that what drives us toward people has to be somewhat biologically based” (Wolfer). Generations past have evidence that as man connects with others relationally there are benefits. Robert D. Putman professor of public policy at Harvard and the author of Bowling Alone, a book about growing social isolation in America, points out that up until the middle 1960’s, Americans were becoming more connected with family and friends, and they gave more blood and money to charitable organizations (Vedantam). Then all of those trend lines turn sharply and have gone in the other direction ever since. While the change has been somewhat subtle, it has gone practically unnoticed by many. Never the less, the effects are present and the evidence is clear; times have changed and there is an element of community missing from society.
What has brought about this change in the way that Americans relate with one another? It could be that there is more to keep them busy than ever before. Americans devote more time to work than any other nation. Many people work multiple jobs. There is also the entertainment explosion. With so many television networks and channels, video gaming systems, portable DVD players mp3 players and satellite radio, one has a veritable plethora of mindless activity to fill what little spare time there is. But the real solution may actually be the internet. The Stanford Institute for the Quantitative Study of Society (SIQSS) has found that on average internet users spend three hours per day on the internet with more than half of that time spent communicating (Dixon). They also discovered that when comparing those who are frequent internet users with those who are not, 31% of frequent users spend 70 minutes less per day interacting with their families and 30 minutes less per day sleeping. So, while the internet seems to have transformed the way that Americans communicate, it seems to have come at an incredible social cost. For the SISSQ team the significance is obvious: “Internet use is replacing face-to-face interactions without replacing the benefits”.
It seems that as the evolution of community has taken place it has left no stone unturned and is dealing fatal blows to even the most sacred of traditions. While the family vacation used to mean that everyone would pile into the family car and head off across the country singing camp songs and playing license plate and billboard games, it no longer looks anything like this. The family bonding in a time of close connection has been replaced with the independent activities of watching a movie on a personal DVD player, listening to an mp3 player through headphones, or maybe even spending time on the internet through a mobile phone. In her article for Newsweek titled “The Family Road Trip: Strangers in a Minivan”, Lisa Segelman says, “Companionship and shared experience have been replaced by individual desires and personal technology “ (Segelman). At first glance this could seem trivial. However, it is easily arguable that this type of bonding and relating is the very fiber of healthy balanced families; and healthy balanced families are made up of healthy balanced individuals.
This trend of social isolation has many well documented side effects. Kids fail to thrive. Crime rises. Generosity shrivels. Possibly the most shocking though is the serious health implications. In her review of the book Loneliness, by University of Chicago psychologist John Cacioppo and writer William Patrick, Josie Glausiusz says; “People with few social ties are at increased risk of dying of heart disease, cancer, and respiratory and gastrointestinal ailments. Lonely people also suffer more anger, anxiety, hostility, pessimism, and lower self-esteem. Three decades of research have shown that loneliness can affect levels of stress hormones, immune function, and even gene expression, while human interaction increases levels of oxytocin, a bonding hormone that reduces blood pressure and cortisol levels” (Glausiusz). It is a fact that well connected people live longer, happier lives.