The source of the feeling of isolation
Yesterday, as I was lying in bed waiting to fall asleep, I pondered about the feeling of isolation (socially-speaking, not the claustrophobic kind). Many people feel isolated, but why? Here's a little thought exercise:
Take a big solid box. Put one person in it, close the box, and let him/her live there. Of course, that person will start feeling isolated almost immediately.
Now, instead of one person, put two people in the box. It might take a little bit longer, but eventually the two people will feel isolated from the rest of the world.
Now put three people. Same story.
Let's skip ahead. Put the entire human population inside the box (it's a big box). Nobody will feel isolated; there is nobody to be isolated from.
So what happened? Somewhere between three people and the entire population, there was a point where people stopped feeling isolated. How many people does it take to not feel isolated? Here's my theory:
When few people are in the box, everybody will get to know each other quickly. As soon as that's done, the isolation feeling starts to kick in. The more people you put in the box, the longer it takes for people to know each other, and so the feeling of isolation takes longer and longer to kick in. At one point, there may be so many people in the box that they cannot get to meet *everybody* before dying; there simply isn't enough time. At that point, the person won't feel isolated.
Another way to look at it is to view Earth itself as the huge box I mentioned. Humanity doesn't feel isolated from the rest of the universe as a whole. Why? There are so many people on Earth that it's impossible to meet everybody in your lifetime.
Now the source of the feeling of isolation becomes clear. A person becomes isolated when he or she feels that meeting new people is impossible. It doesn't matter how many friends the person has; when you can't meet new people, you feel isolated.
Agree/disagree? I'd like to have comments for this. Give me your thoughts!
Take a big solid box. Put one person in it, close the box, and let him/her live there. Of course, that person will start feeling isolated almost immediately.
Now, instead of one person, put two people in the box. It might take a little bit longer, but eventually the two people will feel isolated from the rest of the world.
Now put three people. Same story.
Let's skip ahead. Put the entire human population inside the box (it's a big box). Nobody will feel isolated; there is nobody to be isolated from.
So what happened? Somewhere between three people and the entire population, there was a point where people stopped feeling isolated. How many people does it take to not feel isolated? Here's my theory:
When few people are in the box, everybody will get to know each other quickly. As soon as that's done, the isolation feeling starts to kick in. The more people you put in the box, the longer it takes for people to know each other, and so the feeling of isolation takes longer and longer to kick in. At one point, there may be so many people in the box that they cannot get to meet *everybody* before dying; there simply isn't enough time. At that point, the person won't feel isolated.
Another way to look at it is to view Earth itself as the huge box I mentioned. Humanity doesn't feel isolated from the rest of the universe as a whole. Why? There are so many people on Earth that it's impossible to meet everybody in your lifetime.
Now the source of the feeling of isolation becomes clear. A person becomes isolated when he or she feels that meeting new people is impossible. It doesn't matter how many friends the person has; when you can't meet new people, you feel isolated.
Agree/disagree? I'd like to have comments for this. Give me your thoughts!