On Being Alone

I got this one from the guys over at Querencia. One thing I see even in my own children is a fear of being by themselves. Where as I often covet moments by myself, in the quiet (preferably in the woods), the kids at school fear it. There has been a shift in society, beginning with some of the newer technologies.

our great fear is not submersion by the mass but isolation from the herd. Urbanization gave way to suburbanization, and with it the universal threat of loneliness. What technologies of transportation exacerbated — we could live farther and farther apart — technologies of communication redressed — we could bring ourselves closer and closer together. Or at least, so we have imagined.

You can read the rest here.