Jake10

What happens to people who are socially isolated? Needless to say, it makes people less pleasant to be with, so the next question is how to deal with it?

Fireatwill

I'd suggest buying them a QuestionBot so they're constantly asked questions in order to make them feel connected and important.

Zeno

Different people react differently to similar circumstances. Some will flourish in isolation, others will wither. Some will act loving towards people who enter their world, others will turn into haters.

Fireatwill

Social isolation in moderation is good for one's sanity.

Sartre famously said:

"Hell is other people."

And I agree.

Belloc

Are we talking about individually or on the social scale? Aristotle was correct to observe that man is a social animal, so social isolation can have detrimental effects not just on individuals but also society as a whole. It destroys the sense of communitarian connection with others, which has many profound implications - not least of which is how much arbitrary power becomes more necessary in order to get people to get along, wheras in more close-knit communities that's not necessary since social mores or more intermediate institutions would guide such affairs. Also people will seek connection in numerous forms, and it was out of this longing many of the mass political movements such as Communism, Fascism/Nazism, etc derived their power and support from. This is also true with numerous cults as well. Some of the more destructive aspects of social isolation.

So I guess one solution to the problem is to try to rebuild healthy forms of association and community as much as is possible in light of the modern condition. Emile Durkheim argued something along these lines to combat what he termed ; which is pretty much his term for social isolation. That's a more macrosocial view of the issue.

Brisieis

I agree.

It would totally depend on the individual concerned and the circumstances.

Gudenrath

It also very much depends on whether the person is an introvert or an extrovert. Extroverted people can relax and regain mental energy from stressful work by socialising with other people, while introverts mainly regain it in solitude or in a quiet atmosphere. If you forced the extrovert to solitude they would find it as stressful as the introvert would find being forced to socialise would be.

Curiously enough I am at the moment in the process of reading the Swiss philosopher Johann Georg Zimmermanns work Über die Einsamkeit (On Solitude), where he lists a phenomenal amount of examples through history of the effect of solitude on people. His point is that everyone needs some solitude once in a while, but all in good measure, like being too superficial and wasting time on corteous visits, becoming a hermit and completely withdrawing from human society is not a good thing for most people. Although one reads between the lines that Zimmermann himself clearly is more sympathetic to the recluses than to the overly social people.

He also stresses the point that it is important what the recluse spends his time on. Some people are just lazy and get lonely simply because they can't bother getting up and meeting people, and they are just as wasteful with their time as the overly and superficial sociable people are according to Zimmermann, while other people thrive in solitude and engages in important studies and writes learned literary works. Growing a garden or even farming seems also to be positive tasks for the recluse in Zimmermanns mind (as it was to the Romans and Voltaire).

DreamWeaver

are they an introvert?

tjadams

Some people are very uncomfortable mingling with others; they like being
isolated and want to limit their contact with others.

kbear

they just get on the internet